Rail freight traffic between Asia and Europe has increased significantly in volume and frequency in recent years. The coronavirus pandemic and the resulting capacity bottlenecks in shipping have given rail-based transport connections an additional boost. According to estimates by management consultants Roland Berger, around 878,000 standard containers (TEU) were transported on the various rail corridors of the New Silk Road in 2020. The International Union of Railways (UIC) assumes that this figure could double by 2025.

HHLA subsidiary Metrans is also benefiting from this trend. In 2020, the intermodal company handled a total of 913 trains (2019: 426 trains) that came from or went to China. This is an increase of 114%, with the largest growth (+131%) being recorded for imports. Metrans' transport volume on the New Silk Road was therefore around 30,000 TEU.

Metrans CEO Peter Kiss: "We started transporting sea freight containers to the European hinterland 30 years ago. Metrans offered the first regular shuttle train connection between Hamburg and Prague. Since then, our network between European ports and the hinterland has grown every year. We are also one of the largest providers in what is currently the fastest growing market, rail transport between Europe and China."

Today, customers are offered numerous destinations in China as start and end points. Currently, 60 to 80 Metrans trains a month run between Europe and important economic centers in the People's Republic, including Zhengzhou, Xi'an and Jinhua. Metrans works with partners in China to put together the block trains, which are taken over by or handed over to a traction company at various hubs along the Eurasian rail corridor. These hubs are the Polish border terminal Malaszewicze (near the Belarusian city of Brest) and the terminal in Dobra, Slovakia (near the Ukrainian border). The containers are then distributed throughout the Metrans network. The most important hubs for Metrans' European China transports are its hub terminals in Budapest, Prague, Ceska Trebova, Poznań and Dunajska Streda.

The Port of Hamburg is the central hub of German trade with China, both for the continental and the maritime Silk Road. More than half of German-Chinese foreign trade is handled via the Hanseatic city. The majority is transported by sea. In 2020 alone, more than 2.4 million TEU were handled at the quays in Germany's largest seaport. 15 liner services connect the Hanseatic city with Chinese ports. Quay and rail facilities are close together in Hamburg. As Europe's largest rail port, Hamburg also offers a dense network of wagonload, shuttle and block train services. Every week, almost 1,960 train departures are offered to and from Hamburg - including over 230 weekly connections with China.