(Yicai) Sept. 23 -- More than 130 freight trains along the China-Europe Railway Express are stuck in Belarus after Poland closed the border with its neighbor earlier this month amid military tensions.

The trains are mainly stranded in Brest, a city in southwestern Belarus close to the border with Poland, according to a report released yesterday by New Silk Road Intermodal Sichuan, a logistics service provider mainly operating trains along the China-Europe Railway Express.

It is estimated that it will take one week to relieve the trains at the Brest land port and the ones already in transit from China, New Silk Road Intermodal noted.

“All of our peers operating along the China-Europe Railway Express have some freight trains that departed after Sept. 12,” Tang Tingting, assistant general manager at New Silk Road Intermodal, told Yicai. “Some have already arrived in Brest and are waiting for customs clearance, while others are still on the way.”

Companies running trains along the China-Europe Railway Express have implemented some measures to clear this hurdle, including temporarily suspending some trains, launching alternative rail-sea transport solutions through Saint Petersburg in western Russia, and increasing the frequency of trains on the southern route of the China-Europe Railway Express, the report showed.

“Everyone believes that the border will not remain closed for a long time,” Tang said. “Moreover, as the China-Europe Railway Express service platform has introduced some alternative solutions, clients are still placing orders.” 

Most of the China-Europe Railway Express trains reach their destinations in Europe after transiting through the Malaszewicze hub in Poland, so the latest decision by the Polish government to close the border with Belarus has greatly affected the regular operation of these trains.

The southern route of the China-Europe Railway Express passes through Kazakhstan and crosses the Caspian Sea to Baku, in Azerbaijan. The cargo then moves via Georgia and reaches inland Europe through the Black Sea or Türkiye.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione