The rail freight landscape in Europe looks much different from elsewhere. The lead of this article already mentioned Central Asia, where the overarching theme concerns trade route diversification. Building new railways and reaching new destinations is key for economic security and trade potential. RailFreight.com has reported extensively on the various agreements and studies being undertaken to work towards a trans-Afghan railway, for instance.

A similar situation is unfolding in southern Africa. The champion of rail in this region is Zambia: a similarly landlocked country. It will be the beneficiary of not one, not two, but three ongoing rail projects that originate in the country.

TAZARA and Lobito

The first two are the TAZARA (to Dar Es-Salaam, Tanzania) and the Lobito Corridor (to Angola). Both connect Zambia’s inland mines to ocean ports, creating or rehabilitating avenues for exports and economic growth. Whereas the TAZARA is a China-sponsored railway with national Zambian investments leading to Africa’s east coast, investment in the Lobito Corridor is the Western answer to the Chinese infrastructure ambitions in the region.

As a result, Zambia could soon have two functioning rail routes giving it access to the world’s oceans: one leading west, one leading east. Meanwhile, the country is gearing up for a third railway. The Mosetse–Kazungula–Livingstone (MKL) line will connect Zambia to its southern neighbour Botswana through a narrow 150-metre long shared border across the Zambezi river.

While this railway will not link to any coast, it will improve the country’s connectivity to its much richer neighbour. On 1 April, government representatives came together to reaffirm their commitment to building the MKL railway. A favourable situation for Zambia, considering Botswana is a relatively large importer of its copper wires.

A word of advice from Europe

The MKL project aims to enhance trade, connectivity, and regional integration, explains Zambia’s rail operator. MKL will span approximately 430 kilometres, comprising 365 kilometres from Mosetse (Botswana) to border town Kazungula. From Kazungula, it is another 65 kilometres to Livingstone (Zambia). MKL “is expected to improve cargo and passenger movement while reducing transport costs and easing pressure on road infrastructure.”

With rail-port connections to Durban (South Africa), Dar Es-Salaam and Lobito, Zambia looks set transport-wise for exports of valuable mining products. The MKL will improve trade with wealthy Botswana.

While Europe battles with its own rail maladies, the same sector is looking promising for Zambia. A word of advice from our continent: just make sure to keep those track access charges affordable and infrastructure reliable. In that aspect, Zambia may run into familiar problems, remaining dependent on the availability of rail infrastructure across borders.

The ambitions were voiced at an event held as part of the celebration marking 125 years of Siemens’ presence and continuous partnership in Egypt. The high-speed lines will connect the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, linking raw material areas such as Abu Tartur, Qena, and Aswan to export ports. “The high-speed electric rail project will, for the first time, connect the coastal cities on the Red Sea with the Delta, and will reach East Oweinat and Toshka for the first time,” Al Wazir said. The network is also intended to support regional development and sustainable urban growth.

Linking ports and industrial zones

The project is designed to improve multimodal connections, linking seaports, dry ports, and logistics centres with airports and road networks. Freight transport is a key element, with the first and second lines aligning with the national “Development Corridor”, a long-proposed strategic infrastructure and settlement belt running parallel and west of the Nile Valley. The network will also support exports from modern agricultural areas in the New Delta, West Minya, and Toshka to both domestic and international markets.

Egypt’s rail freight expansion reflects wider ambitions to position the country as a regional logistics hub. With high-speed lines connecting industrial centres and ports, the network aims to increase operational efficiency, reduce transit times, and offer a more reliable alternative to road haulage. “It will link all ports together and connect industrial zones with seaports, as well as modern agricultural development areas with consumption areas and export ports,” Al Wazir said.

Capacity growth and regional connectivity

The high-speed network will initially span 2,000 kilometres, with plans to extend to 2,250 kilometres once a fourth line from Port Said to Alexandria is completed. Passenger capacity is expected to double that of the existing conventional network, while freight volumes could more than double to 13 million tonnes annually. The lines will also enhance cross-border connectivity, supporting potential rail links with Sudan and Libya.

The Egyptian government sees rail freight as central to achieving its 2030 transport objectives. Previously, annual freight throughput stood at eight million tonnes, with rail accounting for 46% of the growth required by 2030, according to Siemens Mobility. Investments include 41 examples of the established Siemens Vectron locomotive design, already extensively used in Europe. Each unit is capable of hauling up to 1,200 tonnes, along with upgrades to dry ports, new terminals, and expanded seaport capacities.

integrating tourism and regional development

While freight is the primary focus, the network will also link tourist destinations, including Hurghada, Luxor, Aswan, and Abu Simbel, creating opportunities for multi-destination travel. Al Wazir highlighted that the rail lines will connect Nile crossings, East and West Nile banks, and emerging economic zones, contributing to population redistribution and the creation of new development axes.

By combining freight, passenger, and multimodal connections, Egypt’s high-speed rail network is intended to support economic growth, industrial development, and more sustainable logistics chains. “It will achieve integration with airports, seaports, and road networks to realise the concept of multimodal transport,” Al Wazir said, positioning rail at the centre of Egypt’s future transport strategy.

While not yet operational, the finalisation of the track-laying process marks a significant milestone towards completion of the railway. Preparations for its inauguration are underway.

The railway will connect the Gara Djebilet iron mine in southwestern Algeria with the national rail network and Mediterranean ports. The mine hosts one of the world’s largest iron ore reserves, with an expected 1.7 billion tonnes of exploitable deposits. China likely eyes access to these resources, allowing it to diversify away from existing suppliers. Algeria, for its part, will be able to diversify away from oil and gas exports.

Success despite geographic adversity

Despite facing harsh desert conditions, construction teams from both nations finished the track-laying in just over 24 months. That was made possible by careful planning and close bilateral coordination, Chinese media write. The project involved the production of 1.1 million concrete sleepers and the laying and welding of over 580 kilometres of rail. CRCC opened an Algerian sleeper factory to support the rail project.

CRCC said that it designed prestressed concrete sleepers suitable for 32.5-tonne axle-load freight trains. The project also saw the first-ever operations of Algeria’s CPG500 track-laying machine and its first automated rail-welding line.

“By reducing freight transit time from Zambia and DRC to the sea from over a month to just one week, the Lobito Corridor is transforming how goods move across central and southern Africa”, the European Commission wrote about the corridor earlier. “It is opening markets for farmers, small businesses and industries while creating new jobs and lowering carbon emissions.”

Critical raw materials

European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jozef Síkela, visited Zambia from 10 to 12 November to deepen the EU-Zambia partnership and promote industrial and infrastructure development along the Lobito Corridor. Síkela also discussed “cooperation on critical raw materials”, which is what much of the geopolitical rail competition in Africa is about.

Ahead of the visit, the European Commission said that the agreement would cover an investment of 116 million euros. ZNBC Today has reported that a total investment of 200 million euros was agreed upon.

China’s state-owned China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has won the concession to manage TAZARA for the coming 30 years. One billion of the total investment will go to renovation works for the 1,860-kilometre railway, the remaining 400 million dollars is reserved for the purchase of 32 locomotives and 762 new wagons. In total, the project is expected to take two years.

For Beijing, the benefits are manifold: it gets to assert control over a key artery for critical raw material supply chains, commercial benefits and leverage over the hosting countries. What’s more, it counteracts Western investments in the so-called Lobito Corridor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Angola, which too leads to Kapiri Mposhi.

The US has pledged at least 803 million US dollars to support that 1,700-kilometre railway, which also connects copper (and cobalt) mines to sea ports. According to the Africa Policy Research Institute, Western financing in total could be as high as 6 billion US dollars. The Lobito Corridor is also a counteracting measure: Western countries seek to undermine China’s already entrenched position in African mining.

Railways to resources

There is a new competition for influence and resources, which means that the battle for African railways is on. The late 19th and early 20th centuries echo in modern geopolitics, especially since foreign powers are after Africa’s precious minerals. China has been leading the way in recent years, with rail projects such as the Simandou railway in Guinea. That 600-kilometre railway is supposed to enable maritime exports of iron ore. Other Chinese rail projects have taken place in Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia.

It seems that Europe and the US will be playing a game of catch-up while China is upping the stakes. In July, China finished a part of the Algerian Western Railway, having built 135 kilometres of the line to the Gara Djebilet iron ore mine. An agreement for 6,000 kilometres of rail was signed in 2024.

Western countries are responding with not only investments in the Lobito Corridor, but also in the Ressano Garcia Line in Mozambique. A 145 million euro combined investment by France and the EU should help build double tracks and boost capacity threefold, to 44,6 million tonnes per year. Unsurprisingly, this line too connects mines (in South Africa) to a port (Maputo).

A broader effort to counter BRI

These rail investments fall into a broader strategy to counteract China and its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) programme. For example, the US and EU have responded to China’s African advancements by establishing the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, of which the Lobito Corridor is the flagship project. African membership of the programme includes Zambia, DRC and Angola.

The EU has its Global Gateway strategy, which seeks to create “strategic, sustainable, and secure transport corridors” and “support value chains, services and jobs”. The EU’s corridor wishlist is long and includes many inland-to-coast routes.

The flipside of the coin

Africa is hoping for lucrative business opportunities, but critics have argued that the investments will lead to resource exploitation akin to that of the colonial era. There may be opportunities, but not all is rainbows and sunshine for African nations as they become a geopolitical battleground.

To illustrate, Kenya has encountered problems with the burden of the infrastructure debt it owes to China. The country failed to repay debts, incurred a penalty fine of a couple of million dollars, and ended up converting the loans from dollars into yuan on 7 October to save on interest payments. It should help save the country 215 million euros a year.

That same railway faced criticism because there was “no real plan for operating the railway” after construction. Mistakes were allegedly made in the acquisition of rolling stock and setting tariffs. The Chinese construction company rushed arrangements for operations on the line, and Kenya missed opportunities “develop national know-how and capability”.

This article was written by Mohammed Shehu, Doctoral Researcher at the University of Birmingham, UK, and Marcelo Blumenfeld, Assistant Professor in Future Transport Systems at the University of Birmingham, UK.

In the context of multimodal logistics, rail networks connect ports and industrial hubs in major cities to strategically located distribution centres. At these centres, freight is consolidated, sorted, and transferred to road transport for last-mile delivery to regional destinations. This integrated road-rail model is vital to lowering transport costs and reducing delivery times, particularly for long-haul movements. It also alleviates road congestion, helping to reduce wear and tear on highways.

Limited interoperability

Historically, many of Africa’s railways were constructed during European colonial rule, primarily for the extraction and export of minerals and agricultural products. European powers often built incompatible systems to serve their own interests, limiting interoperability, except in parts of Southern Africa. As a result, most of the continent’s rail lines still run from inland production hubs to coastal ports. Following independence in the 1960s, road transport was prioritised, and investment in rail infrastructure declined.

This shift has had lasting consequences. Continued investment in road infrastructure, coupled with a lack of rail upgrades, rendered rail freight uncompetitive due to rising costs per tonne. Consequently, rail usage declined sharply. Ironically, many of the delays and costs associated with African ports today stem from the limited capacity of road networks to move goods efficiently.

South Africa dominates

Rail infrastructure across Africa now varies widely in quality and coverage. South Africa alone accounts for nearly 30% of the continent’s total railway track and operates its busiest port. Eswatini and Zimbabwe are connected to Mozambique’s Port of Maputo, which has expanded its cargo handling capacity to over 21 million tonnes annually.

In West Africa, Nigeria’s Lagos Port is the busiest in the region and is linked by rail to Kano, a key commercial hub. However, significant upgrades are required to unlock the environmental and economic potential of this corridor. The railway between Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire’s Port of Abidjan offers regional integration opportunities for countries including Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and Niger. Extending these networks northward could link to well-developed rail systems in Egypt and Morocco, where Tanger Med alone has a capacity exceeding 9 million TEU.

Connecting ports with landlocked countries

To fully realise the benefits of economic development and regional integration, African nations must strengthen rail links between coastal ports and neighbouring landlocked countries. For instance, Kenya’s Port of Mombasa could be integrated with the standard gauge rail (SGR) networks of Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania to enhance East Africa’s multimodal connectivity.

A comprehensive assessment of intermodal transport’s impact on interstate logistics is essential. Developing a robust framework for multimodal freight—one that minimises accident risks, lowers carbon emissions, and boosts transport efficiency—requires sophisticated modelling tools that can account for demand fluctuations and operational uncertainties across the continent.

Long-term benefits

Although the capital investment required for such infrastructure is substantial, the long-term socio-economic benefits and environmental gains outweigh the initial costs. A resilient multimodal freight network would support informed decision-making by governments and development financiers, including multilateral institutions such as the African Development Bank and the World Bank, as well as public-private partnerships. Additional funding could be secured from climate finance mechanisms, given rail’s resilience to climate-related shocks.

Rail systems offer the high-capacity solutions necessary to support port expansion and regional economic growth. Encouragingly, momentum is building, with new SGR projects underway and private sector involvement increasing in key corridors, such as the Lobito Corridor, which links Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia. Efficient, timely, and high-volume goods movement is essential for Africa’s commodity-exporting economies. Crucially, this must be achieved while decoupling growth from emissions to meet climate goals.

In this context, rail is not merely an option—it is a necessity. The cost of inaction may prove far greater.

This article was originally published on our sister publication WorldCargoNews.com

It appeared that the U.S. was using the momentum of a receding Chinese influence to get involved in major infrastructure projects that benefit the superpower by providing access to African natural resources like cobalt, lithium and graphite. On the other hand, China did not appear to abandon its influential role; instead, it implemented a more cautious investing approach that entailed giving away some unfeasible or problematic projects to focus on others, seemingly more important.

Nevertheless, a recent Wall Street Journal report claims that the changing dynamics in Africa cannot be solely attributed to a changing Chinese approach. The report underlines that sloppy infrastructure work and subsequent neglect of infrastructure after its construction by the Chinese side have led African states to seek more ‘trustworthy’ partners, which can allegedly be found in U.S.-backed consortiums. The primary example used to prove this is the Lobito Corridor in Angola.

China recedes…

At the beginning of 2023, the Ugandan government announced the cancellation of a 2.2 billion dollar deal with the Chinese company China Harbour and Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) to build a railway line from the Ugandan capital Kampala to Malaba, a city on the border with Kenya. The African state was already considering handing this project over to the Turkish firm Yapi Merkezi.

After all, the deal with the Turkish company was sealed, and work was expected to commence in September. Ugandan officials claimed that the project would be funded by the British export credit agency UK Export Finance and Standard Chartered Bank.

A South China Morning Post report claimed that China left the Ugandan project to focus on financing another project in Kenya, specifically the Naivasha-Malaba line, an extension of the Kampala-Malaba line in Uganda. Nevertheless, Chinese experts appeared ambiguous on whether China would finance the Kenyan project since a more cautious loaning approach that kept it away from Uganda could force it to reconsider before investing big money in a questionably feasible project.

…and not for the first time

After Uganda followed Angola and the Lobito Corridor project. The Lobito Atlantic Railway Corridor in Africa connects the Lobito port in Angola with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is a critical railway line that provides huge transport possibilities for minerals sourced in DRC to be moved by rail to the Lobito port and then find their way around the world.

China was on top of this investment until 2022, when Angola rejected a Chinese bid to operate freight services on the Lobito line. Instead, they granted the project to Citic, a U.S.-led consortium involving European countries like Switzerland, Portugal and Belgium. The U.S. government will lend 250 million U.S. dollars via the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) as part of this project. This will be DFC’s first rail investment in Africa, and the decision to implement it was solidified during the latest G20 summit in September 2023.

Neglect opens the way to more options

The Wall Street Journal report brings forward a different perspective regarding the changing dynamics in countries like Angola and Uganda. Based on quotes by Angolan officials, the fundamental reasons behind delegating major railway investments to countries other than China are Chinese neglect of projects and the fear of being trapped in an unviable vicious cycle of debt.

Chinese companies involved in past projects have not produced the expected results. New railway infrastructure is often defective, and maintenance works are considerably behind schedule, leading to the decay of railway tracks and the abandonment of signalling and safety systems.

Consequently, and given those circumstances, it is no surprise that another U.S.-based railway consortium, the All-American Rail Group, recently signed an MoU with the Angolan government to develop and finance a railway route parallel to the Lobito Corridor. All that occurs while China is also withdrawing from tenders to operate the Lobito port apart from the railway route leading to it.

Quick conclusions are seldom right

Does this mean that Chinese neglect should be taken for granted and that it will result in the U.S. taking the lead in African railway investments? The fact that the U.S. is gaining momentum in taking over African railway projects might indicate a temporal situation. Indeed, the Lobito Corridor project grant can be considered a victory both in terms of infrastructure development and diplomacy.

Nevertheless, like every investor, the U.S. must live up to the expectations it creates and deliver projects with regional and global added value. Carrying out investments blindly and coming up with flashy railway projects like the India-Middle East-Europe corridor without considering economic and political implications will not do the job.

After all, one should not forget two important factors: in the end, such projects mostly target natural resources, which, no matter what, China is not willing to give up. Additionally, African states have not closed the door to China. Instead, they keep it open while examining more possibilities. As the Angolan Minister of Transport Ricardo Viegas D’Abreu said to WSJ, his country is committed to maintaining a strategic relationship with China. In this sense, it could not be long before we discuss a possible Chinese rebound and takeover in the region.

That is because China is now thinking twice before investing in railway infrastructure amidst concerns of implementing “debt trap diplomacy” and because it needs to be sure that the return on the investments will be profitable, which is not always the case. Consequently, it might seem that Chinese influence in Africa and relevant railway investments might be receding. However, the situation has more layers.

Cancelled Ugandan project

At the beginning of the year, the Ugandan government announced the cancellation of a 2,2 billion dollar deal with the Chinese company China Harbour and Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) to build a railway line from the Ugandan capital Kampala to Malaba, a city on the border with Kenya. The African state was already looking for the possibility of handing this project to the Turkish firm Yapi Merkezi to take over the project.

According to a South China Morning Post report, the deal with the Turkish company is already sealed, works are expected to commence in September and quoted Ugandan officials claim that the project will be funded by the British export credit agency UK Export Finance and Standard Chartered Bank.

Could that be a loss for China? The same report underlines that the Turkish involvement in the 273-kilometres-long standard gauge Ugandan project could turn the Chinese focus towards Kenya, specifically the Naivasha-Malaba line financing. This line will be an extension of the Kampala-Mabala line constructed on the Ugandan side. Experts are ambiguous about whether China will finance this project. On the one hand, it could be geopolitically beneficial; on the other hand, China’s more cautious loaning approach could block such an investment.

US jumps in

During the latest G7 meeting, the US disclosed plans to finance the rail expansion of the Lobito Atlantic Railway Corridor in Africa, connecting the Lobito port in Angola with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The project’s financing will cost around 250 million US dollars and will be implemented by the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). This will be DFC’s first rail investment in Africa.

Apart from infrastructure development, this project will have two more main objectives: that is the balancing of China’s influence–that is why the PGII initiative was launched after all, and access to Africa’s natural resources, specifically minerals like cobalt, lithium and graphite, which are becoming increasingly crucial for the global economy in the context of the green transition. Where operational, the Lobito corridor already serves the transport of mining volumes.

Facts and conclusions

The main facts concerning rail infrastructure investments in Africa are four: first, China is implementing a more thoughtful cost-benefit approach when it comes to investments, while it has already been established for years as an influential power in the continent with access to infrastructure and natural resources.

Second, the US is currently trying to enter the game, reap the benefits of Africa’s mineral wealth, and gradually establish itself as a counterbalancing economic and possibly political power in the continent. Third, the Ugandan example shows that African states might be more flexible when it comes to financing rail infrastructure projects and not only rely on China. This situation might indicate that there’s indeed an opening for the US in the African market.

Fourth, Africa’s natural resources, which are crucial for the future of the planet and the green energy transition, seem to be the real prize in this case since accessing them will be essential for large economies and industrial producers like the US and China to secure the supply of their industries in the years to come and continue racing each other also in terms of production and trade output.

Consequently, a Chinese withdrawal from the region does not seem to be the case. In contrast, the US’ increasing attempts to get involved in Africa and the willingness of African states to seek alternative investors make such a case appear probable. However, China is still there, its capital flows are also there, and the involvement of more actors will probably lead to more competition with rather interesting outcomes.

Also read:

• When rail turns into leverage: U.S. ramps up international investments
• Major rail project in Middle East, US leverage against China-Russia
• BRI and Central Asia: this is what the region has to offer
• G7 and EU plan a new BRI in the making?

Such a move is understandable in international politics, with China attempting to increase its influence sphere by helping states finance and construct critical infrastructure, which mostly concerns rail transport. One of the most recent examples in Europe is the construction of the Belgrade-Budapest railway line in Serbia, carried out with Chinese financing. In late 2022, Bojan Stanić, deputy director of the Strategic Analysis Sector at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, proclaimed China a strategic partner of Serbia and said the Asian state had become the main investor in the Balkan country.

Regarding the rest of the globe, China has a strong presence in South America, Africa and the Middle East, let alone Central Asia. Argentina, for instance, has been going after China asking for railway investments, with governmental officials explaining that they aim to facilitate direct investments in Yuan so that Chinese cash flows will remain stable.

As for the Middle East, China played a key role in reviving the long problematic diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia and advocates for the Chinese Yuan to become one of the main oil exchange and trade currencies. Many of China’s oil suppliers are already accepting payments in Yuan. Simultaneously, China backs Russia’s expansion in the region, namely Iran and the International North-South Transport Corridor.

Will the giant awake?

Some indications that the US at least started realising the role of rail infrastructure investments in international politics and trade came from the G7 summit of 2022, where the attending political leaders pledged to raise 600 billion US dollars (634,56 billion euros) over five years to finance needed infrastructure in developing countries. A year later, during the G7 Summit 2023, in Hiroshima, Japan, this pledge moved closer to implementation.

Specifically, during the latest G7 meeting, the US disclosed plans to finance the rail expansion of the Lobito Atlantic Railway Corridor in Africa, connecting the Lobito port in Angola with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The project’s financing will cost around 250 million US dollars and will be implemented by the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). This will be DFC’s first rail investment in Africa.

Before that, the US had entered talks with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and India for a railway infrastructure project linking the Middle Eastern countries and extending to India via sea shipping lines. The shared US, Saudi, Emirati and Indian plans for such a rail-sea corridor could put pressure on China and Russia by underlying that the US presence in the region is strong and contributes to investments and by providing alternatives to the Chinese and Russian transport corridor monopoly. Even though this plan is not official, the fact that it’s intensely discussed in bilateral and multilateral diplomatic briefings indicates that there’s something moving.

Also read: 

• Major rail project in Middle East, US leverage against China-Russia

• BRI and Central Asia: this is what the region has to offer

• G7 and EU plan a new BRI in the making?

Globally intermodal

“To accompany our customers’ needs, CMA CGM provides three weekly services, SEAS, SEAS 2 and SAFRAN, connecting Asia and Europe to/from Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais with rail ramp delivery respectively in 4 days and 7 days. Should last mile services be required, the intermodal transit time is within one day,” a spokesperson for CMA CGM explained.

The new rail links will offer daily departures, with CMA CGM highlighting the ‘short and reliable transit time’ for goods. The firm estimates total transit time to Rio de Janeiro of 37 days from Shanghai, 40 from Qingdao, 19 from Antwerp, and 21 from Hamburg and transit from Mina Gerais to Shanghai of 38 days, 41 to Qingdao, 30 to Antwerp, 28 to Hamburg.

Following the announcement of its new Brazilian combined rail-sea services, the firm also launched a new dedicated service from Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. Complementing existing services via Beira and Durban, this new link will operate with a dedicated block-train shuttle, offering a weekly capacity of 108 TEU. The service will run between Harare and Maputo and offer an intermodal transit time of five days for Harare Ramp and six days for Harare Door.

“The gain combined on maritime-rail transit time is 15 days from Asia in connection with Mozex service,” a spokesperson for the firm commented. “Harare is reached from Shanghai in 31 days, Yantian in 30 days, Qingdao in 35 days, Busan in 36 days. Export cargo from Harare Ramp bound for Shanghai in 48 days, Yantian 42 days.”

#SwitchToRail initiative

The new services have been launched as part of CMA CGM’s #SwitchToRail initiative, which has seen the firm focus on strengthening the integration of rail links. In April, CMA CGM announced the acquisition of French logistics provider Gefco, buying out joint owners Russian Railways and French-Italian automaker Stellantis.

“The acquisition of GEFCO represents a further step in our development strategy and strengthens our position as a global player in transport and logistics,” Rodolphe Saadé, CEO of the CMA CGM Group, commented. “We are creating a French leader to serve our customers worldwide.”

Building on these global aspirations, the shipping line also recently announced plans to expand its “digital forwarding system” across inland container depots in India, helping to digitalise rail forwarding processes and encourage more freight to move to rail.

“This solution will be a further step in expanding our ease of doing business facilitation for our clientele and in helping to reduce paper trails in our business processes,” a spokesperson for CMA CGM India explained. “To ensure minimal impact on daily operations, we will be ensuring a parallel regime in the first two weeks of implementation and thereafter progressively move towards full adoption of the digital forwarding note.”

The digital forwarding note will be available via the Odex platform and available for all registered OdeX users with the solution implemented across all North Indian ICDs in a phased manner, starting with ICD Tughlakhabad (TKD) and ICD Dadri.

Also read:

• CMA CGM officially the new owner of GEFCO

• CMA CGM now has its own rail operator in Spain