New Intermodal Container Freight Service Between China and Germany Launched

GERMANY – CHINA – Ceva Logistics has launched a new intermodal rail freight service connecting Shilong in China's Guangdong province and Hamburg, Germany. In conjunction with the Chinese state railway company, the new regular block trains will route Shilong, Manzhouli (China), Zabakalsky (Russia), Brest (Belarus), Malaszewicze (Poland) and Hamburg with a station-to-station lead time of 17-19 days. Ceva says its new year-round service solution should save cargo customers up to 2 days in transit time compared with other routings and will also deliver cost savings as a result.

Ceva first initiated its China-to-Europe rail services from Suzhou in 2010 and has built a network encompassing key Chinese cities through its ‘northern route’ operation including Suzhou, Changsha, Shenyang, Hefei, Chongqing, Chengdu, Zhengzhou and Wuhan to European destinations including Moscow, Warsaw, Lodz, Duisburg, Hamburg, Nuremburg and Tilburg. From there it uses its extensive trucking network for onward delivery to major European cities.

In addition to the new ‘southern route’ and its existing northern route, Ceva also operates a ‘middle route’ via Mongolia to Europe to shorten lead times during the winter months and peak season. Kelvin Tang, Ceva's Head of Cross Border, Greater China, said:

"This new link further extends our comprehensive rail services between China and Europe and enables us to provide customers with a reliable, highly secure door-to-door service with real-time track and trace along the route.”

Ceva operates both FCL and LCL services ex-China which are managed through its control tower in Shenzhen with dedicated rail and road connection teams delivering customer service through a single contact point.