Page 26 - Port of Hamburg Magazine - 02.19

■ HAMBURG AND CHINA
POLAND IS A KEY STRETCH FOR RAIL TRAFFIC ON THE NEW SILK ROAD
26 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | June 2019
Polish State Railways investing in reliability and speed
The Polish stretch of railway plays an important part on the New Silk Road and in feeder traffic for the Port of Hamburg. The potential of PKP Group companies is contributing to development of this route – both with investments in intermodal transport and in directing container services to terminals throughout the country.
Port of Hamburg Magazine: How do you assess the future development of container traffic with China?
Antonowicz: We are keeping an eye on development there. With foreign trade structured as at present, the volume handled by rail represents no more than just over two percent. Rail container transport with China can only grow. The latest forecasts by experts at the Infrastructure Economic Center foresee trade between China and the European Union growing by over 843 billion euros by 2030. Between 2016 and 2018, freight from China into the EU increased an- nually by 20 to 25 percent. From 2020, Reduction of Chinese subsidies could slow momentum to an an- nual ten percent. PKP is investing in railway border crossings, as well as track and hub infrastructure, expanding capacity of European traffic corridors and improving the quality of international freight servic- es.
How have costs and transit times on the route be- tween China and Europe developed until now? Costs and transit times have come down in recent years. Transport time from Kazakhstan and Russia has
been cut from 14 to ten days. Thanks to Polish pro-ex- port activities, recent years have seen a growing return freight flow to China. Achievement of the break-even point on container trains without subsidies has be- come a reality. When the first trains arrived from China in 2013, the price per 40-ft container was around 6,000 dollars, now it’s roughly from 3,500 to 4,000 dollars. Matching train services, plus investment in infrastruc- ture and trains, have made railborne freight transport more attractive.
Poland is the gateway to Western Europe on the New Silk Road. Which challenges does PKP Group need to overcome to keep rail services flowing be- tween East and West?
We must not forget that the quality of transport corridors depends on political cooperation and con- sensus, plus active engagement, between all those involved along the route. Both further simplification of customs procedures and an improvement of data flow, for example by introduction of a standard elec- tronic waybill, are required. Yet the decisive factor is the condition of the infrastructure. The priorities here are a strengthening of the intermodal terminal
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