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Malaszewicze-Brest gauge break
Malaszewicze, Poland52.03°N 23.60°E
computed criticality28/100
reading
≈90% of China-EU rail freight changes gauge here
2023Corridor traffic≈ 46 trains/day (~ 17,000/year)
0trains
Accumulated at the measured rate since 1 January 2024 · 2023, Eurasian Rail Alliance Index (UTLC ERA) via UIRR (17,000 trains)
What passes hereAbout 85% of China-Europe rail freight transits here, some 3.7% of EU-China trade by value.
The chokepointBreak of gauge, CIS 1,520 mm meeting EU 1,435 mm. Every container is transshipped or bogies are swapped.
If it closesKaliningrad, Kaunas in Lithuania, and the trans-Caspian Middle Corridor bypassing Russia and Belarus.
Illustrative counter: it extrapolates the measured average rate, it is not a live feed.Source : UTLC ERA / UIRR, 2023 ↗
Fault line
At the Poland-Belarus border the track gauge changes and every China-Europe train must be transshipped. A single land chokepoint, exposed to tensions with Minsk and Moscow.
Sources
UTLC ERA ; presse ferroviaire 2023estimate