Rail freight
Rail sits in the gap that sea and air leave open: faster than a vessel, a fraction of the cost of an aircraft.
What this covers
For containerised cargo moving between Asia and Europe, rail is a genuine third option rather than a novelty. It suits consignments that are too time-sensitive for a vessel and too heavy, too bulky or too price-sensitive for an aircraft.
Rail routing is more exposed than sea to border formalities, gauge changes and equipment availability, because a train crosses jurisdictions on the ground rather than passing between two ports. We plan around those points explicitly and tell you where a delay is most likely to occur.
How the shipment runs
Comparison
| Sea | Rail | Air | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relative transit time | Longest | Intermediate | Shortest |
| Relative cost | Lowest | Intermediate | Highest |
| Typical unit | Container or consolidated cargo | Container | Chargeable weight |
| Main variables | Vessel schedule, transhipment | Border formalities, gauge change, equipment availability | Aircraft capacity, screening |
| Suits | Volume that can wait | Cargo needing speed at container economics | Cargo where a day of delay is expensive |
Documents you receive
- Rail consignment note for the international leg
- Commercial invoice and packing list
- Transit documents required by each jurisdiction on the route
- Certificate of origin where the destination requires one