The enablers and inhibitors of intermodal rail freight between Asia and Europe

Contemporary modes in intercontinental transportation are sea and air freight. The geographical connection of Eurasia additionally enables rail freight via the Eurasian landbridge. This transport concept reduces lead time compared to sea freight at lower cost than air or sea-air freight and hence fits into a strategic niche between established modes. These characteristics facilitate developments in supply chain management like increasing transport distances and continuous cost reduction together with relatively new trends (smaller, but more frequent shipments, flexibility and sustainability) that are only partly satisfied by contemporary modes. At this moment, the Eurasian landbridge is at an immature state, used by few shippers. This paper intends to identify factors that enable, respectively, inhibit Eurasian rail freight and understand how inhibitors can be overcome. The research based on case studies reviewing literature and conducting interviews to investigate individual landbridge routes. Besides providing secondary data, literature identified stakeholders and thus served as input for 24 semi-structured interviews to gather primary data. Both data streams were then combined to reveal the current attractiveness of Eurasian rail freight. A future outlook in the closing section aims at stimulating further research and thinking in order to create a viable alternative for global supply chain management.