Southwest China’s Chongqing municipality has inaugurated a new fixed-schedule China-Europe freight train service to Budapest, Hungary, strengthening trade connectivity between China and Central Europe. The inaugural departure occurred on Sunday, carrying automotive and motorcycle components, electronic products, and various consumer goods.
This strategic logistics corridor will traverse approximately 11 days through multiple nations, exiting China via the Alataw Pass in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region before progressing through Kazakhstan, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, ultimately reaching Budapest—a crucial transportation hub for Central and Eastern European markets.
The Chongqing-Budapest route represents the municipality’s second fixed-schedule China-Europe freight service, complementing its existing connection to Duisburg, Germany. Unlike conventional freight trains, these scheduled services operate on predetermined timetables and routes, substantially enhancing delivery reliability and efficiency.
According to China Railway Chengdu Group Co., Ltd., this new logistics option reduces transit duration by approximately 30 percent compared to traditional freight services. Yang Lianchen, a representative from the Chongqing railway logistics center, emphasized that “the fixed-schedule service offers greater predictability for production planning, logistics and capital turnover,” particularly benefiting Chongqing’s electronics, automotive, motorcycle, and equipment manufacturing sectors.
Recent data from China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. reveals the expanding scale of this transnational network, with China-Europe freight trains having completed 120,000 journeys while transporting merchandise valued at over $490 billion. As a flagship initiative of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the China Railway Express has established an extensive logistics network spanning Eurasia, currently reaching 232 cities across 26 European nations and over 100 cities in 11 Asian countries.