RailFreight Events

Events for rail freight professionals

Past events

RailFreight Summit 2023

Boarding at CEE time

The importance of Poland for the rail freight industry cannot be denied. It plays a crucial role on the New Silk Road, and it has some of the most important ports in Europe. But also within Europe, the country has many roles to play, with connections to almost every corner of the continent. If you are a rail or logistics professional, the chance is high that you are, in some way or another, involved with Poland.

These are not the easiest times for the country. The expected EU funds for the modernisation of the Malaszewicze border area have been cancelled. Poland got a new role, as a host of humanitarian routes to neighbouring Ukraine. And the New Silk Road volumes that once made the Polish industry thrive have been severely impacted by the war.

The 6th edition of RailFreight Summit brought together the international rail freight community on 19-20 April 2023 in Warsaw, Poland. After a record-breaking edition the previous year, in April 2023 together, we ‘boarded the train’ for a journey around the CEE region. As a passenger, you could choose your own destination, based on your business interests. Part of this year’s programme was plenty of dedicated time for networking, plenary and breakout sessions and a very special full-day site visit to Malaszewicze.

Around 300 attendees from 26 countries joined the summit! Would you like to view the programme of RailFreight Summit 2023? You can download it here.

European Silk Road Summit 2022

Getting ready for a new chapter

On 19 March 2021, the China-Europe express celebrated its tenth anniversary of services. A year later, in March 2022, the Silk Road was facing a new reality. With a war waging in Ukraine, sanctions in place and routes blocked, everyone wondered about the future of Eurasian connections. Yet, the Silk Road, just like it did during the pandemic, proved its resilience. As we now move into a new decade of China-Europe trains, we also enter the Silk Road 2.0 phase. On 7 & 8 December 2022, we explored how the ever-shifting Eurasian rail supply chain is here to change and stay at the 6th edition of the European Silk Road Summit in Duisburg, Germany.

Over 300 rail freight professionals from 29 countries joined the edition, making it the biggest summit in Europe for the Silk Road. European Silk Road Summit 2022 was truly the place to be for the ever-growing Silk Road community in December 2022!

You can watch the aftermovie of the summit below.

RailFreight on Tour – The Hungarian edition

In the past few years, Hungary has made a huge leap forward, in terms of infrastructure, facilities and services. Hungary should be placed on the international rail freight map once again, is the consensus, and there is no time to waste. Technology plays a key role in this: state-of-the-art terminals are built and digitalisation will lead the way. Budapest is no longer the only hub in the country. At The Hungarian Edition of the RailFreight on Tour, the potential of Hungary on the international rail freight map was therefore explored. 

On 19-20 October 2022, RailFreight.com traveled to Debrecen, Hungary, for the second edition of the RailFreight on Tour travelling event concept.

Read more about the event. 

RailFreight Summit Poland 2022

The new reality Poland is facing after the war on Ukraine was at the heart of the discussion at the RailFreight Summit 2022 in Warsaw, that was held on 7 & 8 September. Within a few months the role of Poland on the international rail freight market has changed completely. Whereas it used to be the gateway to Europe for traffic from Asia with the most heavily consumed border crossing on the New Silk Road, it needs to reinvent itself today as a result of the war in Ukraine. It was a record-breaking edition with over 300 delegates.

Read more about the event. 

RailFreight on Tour – The Lithuanian Edition

RailFreight on Tour – The Lithuanian Edition

Lithuania is currently among the hot-trending rail freight markets, increasingly attracting more attention. The country’s position in the Baltic region is ideal for creating cargo flows to and from the European mainland, Scandinavia or even the Black Sea region. Can Lithuania become a new rail freight crossroad? What possibilities does it offer for interconnectivity, intermodal traffic and transcontinental links? At The Lithuanian Edition of the RailFreight on Tour, we dived into these questions and explored Lithuania’s potential for business growth.

RailFreight.com travelled to Vilnius, Lithuania on 14 & 15 June 2022, for the first-ever edition of the RailFreight on Tour travelling event concept.

View more information on the event.

RailFreight Summit Special Edition

Instability on the corridor

Just at the moment that the impact of the pandemic was felt a little less, the war in Ukraine started, having an immediate impact on international rail freight. How is the supply chain affected by the war in Ukraine? By the sanctions on Russian companies? Is the New Silk Road via Russia still a viable option? What has been the market response? What can be done to overcome this challenge?

On the 6th of April, we organised the RailFreight Summit Special Edition in Brussels, Belgium. This conference is organised to encourage the connection of the industry and continue working together on the next challenge on the road.

More information on the event.

European Silk Road Summit 2021

An ever-shifting market

Rail freight along the New Silk Road proved its efficiency by keeping the supply chains running during the pandemic. The industry acquired a more reliable and resilient profile, but new concerns and opportunities emerge as the New Silk Road develops. Rolling stock is not always available, and container prices fluctuate. What determines the container prices? What steps lie ahead for rail freight to reach stability and benefit from the competition? On 7 & 8 December 2021 the fifth edition of the European Silk Road Summit took place in Amsterdam, where we dived into this trending matter.

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RailFreight Summit Poland 2021

Freight and the European Year of Rail

2021 was the European Year of Rail. It was the year rail transportation was in the spotlight more than ever. What did it mean for rail freight in the CEE region? Has it stimulated a modal shift? Has it improved the infrastructure that so many operators need? In other words, what is the result so far? At the RailFreight Summit Poland 2021, we discussed the European Year of Rail for freight as well as multimodal freight possibilities and the New Silk Road and the position of the CEE region.

Over 250 freight professionals met at the biggest edition of the RailFreight Summit Poland so far.

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RailFreight Networking Days

Maintaining your network and finding new business relations is crucial to building on the development of the rail freight industry together. There is a great urgency to connect and exchange insights. On 9 and 10 June 2021, we organised the digital RailFreight Networking Days. As the name already tells, on these days networking was key.

Via our event platform dedicated to networking, attendees were able to plan 1-on-1 video meetings with each other to build on their network. Moreover, updates on the rail freight market were given in presentations and panel discussions in four different sessions.

View more information about this event. 

European Silk Road Summit 2020

New Silk Road – a shock-proof corridor

The coronavirus was, without doubt, the main development impacting the logistics industry. An important stop on the New Silk Road, Wuhan, was ground-zero of the outbreak. Still, rail freight has proven to be resilient; a solution even to revive the disturbed supply chain between Europe and Asia. The 4th edition of the European Silk Road Summit took place on 10 & 11 November 2020 in a digital environment.

Professional online event: including one-on-one networking

During this year’s digital edition, we broadcasted from different studios in Europe and China. We discussed the developments on the New Silk Road in 2020. What did the volumes do? What do these figures tell us? And has this impacted Chinese policy on Eurasian rail freight?

It was also a perfect meeting place to meet 250+ industry professionals in a virtual environment by means of 1-0n-1 meeting possibilities.

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RailFreight Summit Poland 2020

Shifting to Rail

The third edition of the RailFreight Summit Poland took place on 1, 2 and 3 September 2020 in Poznan, Poland. Due to its geographic importance, the region in and around Poland is developing at a rapid pace. A network of hubs is in the making, connecting countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to Western Europe, China, the Baltic states and the Adriatic coast. At this event, high-level speakers shared their insights and knowledge on the following topics:

  • Infrastructure Improvements
  • Connecting European Ports
  • Hub and Spoke System
  • Successful Hubs as an Example
  • Intermodal Network and Terminals
  • Baltic or Adriatic?
  • Europe or China?
  • Rail Baltica Impact
  • New Silk Road Impact
  • Corridors in Poland

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European Silk Road Summit 2019

Building the business case in Europe

Whoever thought that the New Silk Road was just a hype a few years back has been proven wrong. The volumes are still growing every day, traffic is moving towards east and west and the scope of the project is still expanding, as more and more countries are getting involved. At the same time, the New Silk Road is maturing. The test phase is over, trains are running with full containers and according to schedule.

At least, that is what we have heard. On 26 and 27 November 2019, experts from all over the world gathered in Venlo, the Netherlands to share their latest knowledge, perspective or experience. Think of logistics providers, operators, shippers, politicians and academics; all will be there, either on stage or in the audience. This is when the New Silk Road gets together.

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RailFreight Summit Poland 2019

The second edition of the RailFreight Summit Poland took place on 15 and 16 May 2019 in Gdansk, Poland. High-level expert speakers shared their knowledge and experience on the position of Poland and surrounding countries at crossroads between Europe and Asia, including the New Silk Road connections and other routes in development. The following topics were discussed during the conference:

  • New Silk Road connections, routes and the position of Poland
  • new routes to the Adriatic coast
  • the connection to Ukraine
  • the shift to central and eastern Europe
  • EU policy in eastern Europe
  • the broad gauge network
  • logistics hotspots in Poland

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Freight & Terminal Forum

The first edition of the Freight & Terminal Forum took place on 26-28 March 2019 in Jaarbeurs Utrecht, the Netherlands. The rail freight industry is growing and so are business opportunities. By organising the Freight & Terminal Forum, we contributed to the knowledge exchange in the sector and creating networking opportunities.

Part of the event was an exhibition and a conference on Rail Terminal Efficiency.

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RailFreight Summit Poland 2018

Silk Road Gateway Poland

RailFreight Summit Poland 2018 took place on 20-21 March 2018 in Wroclaw (Poland), the key topic was the Silk Road Gateway Poland. High level expert speakers shared their knowledge and experience on the silk road; the route and connections, what it means for supply chains and logistics in general, the risks, the interest of China, what it means for Poland and much more.

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