CEVA Logistics has launched a rail service connecting the southern Chinese city of Shilong with Hamburg in Germany.

According to CEVA, the new regular block trains are operated in conjunction with the Chinese state railway company and will run from Shilong in Guangdong province to Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia, Zabakalsky in Russia, Brest in Belarus, Malaszewicze in Poland and Hamburg, with a station-to-station lead time of 17-19 days. The new year-round service is expected to save customers up to 2 days in transit time compared with other routings.

“This new link further extends our comprehensive rail services between China and Europe and enables us to provide customers with a reliable, highly secure door-to-door service with real-time track and trace along the route,” said Kelvin Tang, head of cross border in Greater China at CEVA.

CEVA offers both FCL and LCL services ex-China which are managed through its control tower in Shenzhen. Dedicated rail and road connection teams provide customer service through a single contact point and also provide users with 24/7 real-time tracking through CEVA’s web portal.

CEVA first launched its China-Europe rail services from Suzhou in 2010. The company now offers three major routes from Chinese cities to European destinations such as Moscow, Warsaw, Lodz, Duisburg, Hamburg, Nuremburg and Tilburg, where cargo can then be trucked to the rest of Europe.