Rail · 35–45 days
Rail delivery from China
By rail, cargo reaches Ukraine from China in 35–45 days — roughly twice as fast as sea and considerably cheaper than air. It is the middle option for anyone for whom 70 days by sea is too long and a plane does not pay for itself. We move both consolidated shipments and full containers. There is no minimum shipment.
Who rail suits
Rail is a choice made on the numbers, not on principle. It almost always looks sensible where sea has cost you a season and air has eaten your margin.
Typical scenarios: seasonal goods that must land before the sales peak; regular supplies where you want to cut the cash cycle by a month; goods of medium value per kilogram, for which air is too expensive and two months by sea too slow; replenishing the range between large sea consignments.
And one more scenario people rarely think of: rail as insurance. Part of the volume goes by sea and the critical part by rail, so the warehouse does not run empty if the vessel is delayed.
How the route runs
The cargo is assembled at our warehouse in China, loaded into a container and moved along the rail corridor through the Małaszewicze border crossing in Poland to a terminal in Ukraine or the EU, and from there by road to your warehouse. Departures from our warehouses in China run daily, so an assembled shipment does not wait for a slot in the schedule.
The 35–45 day figure is the full cycle from departure to arrival in Ukraine. The ten-day spread comes down to congestion at border crossings and queues for the gauge change — that is a normal characteristic of this route, and we build it into the plan from the start rather than reporting it after the fact.
Cost and how weight is calculated
Consolidated cargo by rail is charged on the greater of two figures — weight or volume — just as at sea. A full container is charged per container, regardless of the density of the goods.
The rate is driven by the city of dispatch, the product category, the container type and the season: the route is traditionally busy ahead of Chinese New Year and in the run-up to Christmas. We calculate the exact rate for your specific cargo and fix it before departure. The factors are set out on the What your rate depends on page.
Restrictions worth knowing about in advance
Rail does not accept everything. Part of the product range — dangerous goods, certain chemical categories, goods with special temperature requirements — either cannot travel or travels only with separate documentation. We do not take temperature-controlled cargo at all; that is the limit of our competence.
So we check the product list before booking, not after the consignment has already arrived at the warehouse in China.
Key facts
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Transit time | 35–45 days |
| For comparison: sea | 70 days |
| For comparison: air | from 10 days, typically ≈ 14 |
| Formats | consolidated cargo and full container |
| Departures from the China warehouse | daily |
| Border crossing | Małaszewicze (Poland) |
| Minimum shipment | none |
| Departure warehouses | Guangzhou, Beijing, Yiwu, Hong Kong |
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Quote · free of charge
Price rail delivery
Send us a description of the cargo — we will price rail alongside sea and air so the difference in time and cost is visible in figures.