Rail Transport

Say hello to a more sustainable transport solution - GEODIS rail freight. We unlock lower costs than air freight & faster delivery than ocean freight.

Contact our Rail Transport experts

Our experts will provide you with more information about our solutions and expertise.

Stay on track with delivery costs & sustainability targets

 

Delivery by air or sea just not working out for you? With GEODIS’ customized rail freight solutions, transport goods more sustainably & affordably. 

 

Want to move freight across borders? Consider our intercontinental rail portfolio featuring customer-dedicated block trains and FCL & LCL services between China & Europe. Along with freight trains, use barges or trucks to benefit from intermodal shipping efficiencies.  

 

Our team of experts will handle all your documentation & ensure seamless monitoring of containerized shipments via GEOTag tool.

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    ecological_alternative.svg

    Deliver eco-friendly transport options

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    schedule.svg

    Improve schedule reliability for on-timely delivery

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    vast_distibution.svg

    Offer vast distribution network

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    Make your cargo transport more cost-efficient

Eco-friendly transport solutions

Deliver eco-friendly transport options

  • Reduce CO₂ emissions significantly

 

  • Transport freight mainly via electrified rail routes 

 

 

 

12

x

lower CO2 produced with rail freight vs air freight

25

%

lower CO2 with rail freight vs ocean freight

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Improve schedule reliability for on-timely delivery

  • Enjoy on-time & reliable flow of goods

 

  • Create more market opportunities with faster delivery than ocean freight

 

  • Avoid slow deliveries

 

  • Pick up loads from distant ports

15

to

25

days between China and Europe

Rail freight and distribution network

Offer vast distribution network

  • Deliver to and from several inland locations

 

  • Avail door-to-door transportation by rail or road
Cost effective cargo transportation

Make your cargo transport more cost-efficient

  • Save around 20 days of inventory, as compared to ocean freight

 

  • Avail lower interest on loan payments by reducing transit time, as compared to ocean freight

 

  • Free-up capital for other activities, thanks to reduced transit time vs ocean freight 

Services

Block Train

With this tailor-made service, goods are sent via optimal routes & in a full train, between China and Europe. The transit time is 15-25 days.

Full Container Load (FCL)

Deliver full-container loads door-to-door, with our FCL service. GEODIS offers daily departures, between China and Europe.

Less than Container Load (LCL)

Send small volume shipments by LCL rail between China & Europe. Avail door-to-door delivery in Europe, by using Poland & Germany as hubs for final distribution.

Buyer's Consolidation

Reduce freight & inventory costs with our flexible buyer’s consolidation services. To this end, we bundle many orders, from many suppliers at varied locations. 

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“Rail freight affords the right balance between delivery time and cost. It is considered a complementary solution to sea freight and air freight. Businesses that are looking for improved speed and connectivity can also choose to use these transport modes together as part of their integrated ‘logistics’ operations.”

 

Farhad Karamay, Regional Rail Freight Product Manager, GEODIS - EUROPE 

Related Solutions

Road Transport

Move your goods via the roadways with GEODIS. Choose from our standard or customized road transport solutions to meet your transit speed & load size specifications.

Pallet and Parcel Transport

Need fast and high-quality transport of single and multi-package shipments? Our unique parcel and pallet network delivers goods the next day before noon or in 24/48 hours.

Multimodal Transport

GEODIS is a pioneer in multimodal transportation. We design smart solutions, combining varied transport modes, to meet your unique delivery and sustainability targets.

Specialized Transport Solutions

Do your goods need special handling? GEODIS offers a range of specialized transport solutions, tailored to your industry needs & fully compliant with security requests.

Frequently asked questions

Rail freight refers to the transport of goods via cargo train from point A to point B. This form of rail transportation of cargo is a more sustainable and affordable.

To make cargo rail transport of dangerous goods a lot more secure, it would be advisable to pack the items in compliance with safety requirements. Rail freight services offered by 3PL will also ensure that the freight trains are assembled in a way that doesn't put your goods at threat.  

You could also prevent theft, loss, or damage to the goods by tracking the orders from origin to destination via this eco-friendly transport.

Railroad transport is more affordable than road transport, especially for longer journeys as the former has more capacity to hold goods. This sustainable transport is more fuel efficient and helps reduce environmental footprint.

They are exactly the same and often interchangeably used to ship by sea or rail transport.

Dangerous goods (DG) of class 1 – 8 are strickly prohibitted on China – Europe rail, meanwhile DG (class 9) are conditionally accepted prior to approval by MSDS.

No, out of guage cargo (OOG) are not accepted. The China – Europe train transport only accepts containerized shipments.

CIM/SMGS consignment note is a common transport document issued by rail carriers. The CIM is for the European Union (EU) stretch of rail freight, while SMGS is for the rest of the transit period.

A rail freight agreement is typically valid for a minimum 3 months. A longer validity period can be negotiated, based on volume commitment.

Fill out the form to get in touch with our GEODIS experts

 

We’ll show you how you can use GEODIS to deliver what matters to your customers. No matter the size, goals or shape of your business – we can tailor-make our solutions to fit your needs.