15% annual growth expected for New Silk Road

International consulting group Roland Berger and international rail union UIC examined the opportunities of the Eurasian rail corridor for the freight sector. Annual growth of 14.7% in container volumes on the route is expected over the next 10 years. They assumed a ‘best case’ and a ‘worst case’ scenario. In the best case, volumes will grow to 742,000 teu. If conditions are adverse, growth could be limited to 437,000 teu, the study found. Both the northern route via Russia and Kazakhstan and the southern route via Turkey and Iran were considered.