Rail container traffic between China and Europe dropped by 22% year-on-year in H1 2025. Despite such a significant downturn, the Middle Corridor still sees spectacular growth, including in the container business.
Container traffic on the Middle Corridor keeps growing. In the first half year of 2025, a total of 40,200 TEU passed along the Transcaspian route, according to the Middle Corridor association TITR. That is substantially more than the H1 2024 number, which was 19,370 TEU. In other words, 2025 has seen growth of 93%.
In terms of tonnage, 926,000 tonnes of freight made its way along the Middle Corridor between January and June. That is 48,000 tonnes more than during the same period of 2024: a 5.5% increase.
The general secretary of TITR, Nurgul Zhakupova, also pointed to considerable growth in transit through Kazakhstan. At 262,000 tonnes, it was 103,000 tonnes higher (65%) than in H1 2024.
The China-Europe drop
Earlier, the Eurasian Rail Alliance reported a 22% year-on-year drop in rail container traffic between China and Europe. That includes both the Middle Corridor and the northern route through Russia, and both east-west and west-east directions.
Lower shipping rates likely contribute most to a more competitive position for the maritime sector, meaning that freight forwarders more often opt for ships rather than trains.
At the time, RailFreight.com wrote that it seemed that the Middle Corridor was mostly losing out amid the 22% drop. With the new data from the TITR association, that seems to have been a mistaken view. It is therefore possible that it is in fact the northern route through Russia, and the more southern route through Iran that have taken bigger hits.