The Pan-Asia Railway Middle Line continues to exert efforts, and sea-land multimodal transportation has become a new choice for cross-border logistics in Southeast Asia.

In 2026, the freight frequency of the Pan-Asia Railway Middle Line will continue to increase, and the cross-border railway express line between China, Laos, and Thailand will operate steadily and regularly. The transportation time from Kuala Lumpur to Chongqing is compressed to about 10 days, which is nearly 50% shorter than the traditional pure sea transportation time, and the comprehensive logistics cost is reduced by 30%. The sea-land-rail multimodal transportation has become a new growth channel for cross-border logistics in Southeast Asia.

Although the traditional pure maritime mode has a low unit price, it is affected by port congestion and shipping delays, and the overall delivery time is generally 15-45 days, suitable for low-speed, large-scale, low-price small commodities; The Pan-Asia Railway Transportation Line, which balances timeliness and cost, is mainly suitable for medium- and high-value goods such as electrical and mechanical parts, machinery equipment, home building materials, and fresh food cold chain. The Nansha-Thailand Laem Chabang Rail-Sea Transportation Line will be launched in 2026, opening up a new export route for enterprises in central and western China and the Pearl River Delta to ASEAN.

The multimodal transport link has multiple advantages: First, it avoids the congestion at the port of Malacca and the risk of ship delays, which greatly improves the stability of transportation time. Second, support for a single declaration under the TIR system, with no need to open and re-inspect containers in transit, simplifying the transit process; Third, the railway cabin is less affected by the fluctuation of the peak season, and the cabin capacity of the promotion and holidays is better than that of the sea.

At present, the leading Southeast Asia express logistics companies in China have all set up multimodal transportation services, which can be flexibly matched with the three transportation modes of sea, air, and rail according to the customer's cargo volume, budget, and time-sensitive requirements. According to industry forecasts, with the completion of the Malaysia East Coast Railway segment, the capacity of the Pan-Asia Railway will be further released in 2027, and the proportion of multimodal transport market will continue to increase. Overseas enterprises can synchronize the layout of multi-channel logistics solutions, disperse the congestion and price increase risks of single transportation routes, and enhance the anti-fluctuation ability of the supply chain.