Eurasian Corridors: Development Potential

As the worldwide railway organisation, UIC is par-ticularly committed to supporting the successful implementation of international rail freight services at world level. Particular attention has been paid since 2010 to rail freight corridors linking Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The latest study, carried out in 2017 in collaboration with Roland Berger Transportation Consultancy, showed that Eurasian rail cargo transport has grown significantly in recent years. The number of operated trains rocketed from ~300 in 2014 to nearly 1,800 in 2016 and again dou-bled the following year. Interviews with stakeholders confirmed that a number of improvements have driven the volume development on Eurasian rail routes. However, there is still room for efficiency and quality gains in areas such as waiting times and processes for border crossings and customs, and in reliability and client information to increase the attractiveness of rail transport for logistics service providers. In addition, a series of developments will affect the way existing corridors were initially envisaged to develop. These range from infrastructure projects to pricing policies.