Behind the start of China-EU container trains through Ukraine is tidal wave of transcontinental train traffic,

Behind the start of China-EU container trains through Ukraine is tidal wave of transcontinental train traffic, reports World Railways, a Moscow-based news site. Last year, 6,363 freight trains traveled between China and the EU – almost one an hour and nearly equal to the 8,328 trains that made the trip during the previous seven years. From a first China-EU train in March 2011– from Chonquing to Duisburg, Germany – the China-EU network has grown to link 62 Chinese and 51 EU cities. Initially one sided, the rail traffic is more balanced, increasingly carrying EU exports to China. With traffic backing up at the Poland-Belarus gauge break border, Chinese shippers are experimenting with routing freight trains through Ukraine.