China's railway system recorded a record number of passenger trips in the first ten months of 2025, according to the country's railway operator. At the same time, the China-Europe freight train X8489, which operates on a network of 38 million km across 59 routes, has transported over 14 million tons of imported and exported cargo since its launch in 2022, according to data from China Railway Harbin Group Co., Ltd.
Between January and October, the total number of trips nationwide reached 395 million, representing a 6.4% increase from the same period last year, according to data released on Sunday by China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.
The company stated that since the beginning of the year, it has prioritized safety and order in travel while working to meet the growing diversity of passenger demand. For example, it operated a total of 2,049 tourist trains during the period mentioned, a 28.1% increase from the same period in 2024. It also highlighted measures taken to facilitate and reduce the cost of travel, such as personalized discounts for students, children, and other key groups.
Record Cargo
The China-Europe freight train X8489 in Xi'an, inaugurated in 2013, has been at the forefront of the country in key aspects such as the number of trains, cargo volume, and container loading ratio for many years. Currently, the Xi'an International Port Station operates 59 railway routes with an annual capacity of 5.4 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units). Projects like the Kazakhstan-Xi'an port have been completed and put into operation, facilitating trade and transport with Europe and Asia, and promoting the city's transformation into a modern international logistics and trade center.
The China-Europe freight train service is a railway transport network connecting cities on both continents. It serves as an important pillar of bilateral trade and an alternative to maritime transport. Currently, it connects 128 Chinese cities with 229 cities in 26 European countries and over 100 cities in 11 Asian nations.
This service offers shorter transit times than sea freight, with routes taking between 16 and 22 days, and moves a wide variety of goods, from auto parts and furniture to solar products, clothing, electronics, and pharmaceuticals.
The routes are becoming more numerous and diversified, now including multimodal trips that cross the Caspian Sea. It is significantly faster than maritime transport, which usually takes about 36 days. An example is a multimodal route that reduces transit time from 50 days to approximately 15 days.
The first service departed from Chongqing (China) to Duisburg (Germany) in 2011, passing through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, and Poland. New routes are being developed, some avoiding Russia due to the war in Ukraine, such as the trans-Caspian corridor that crosses Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey before connecting to Europe.
