== Abstract ==

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The Silk Route is an emerging transportation initiative that aims to connect Europe and Asia by rail link–<br> landbridge. This study investigates freight forwarders’ perceptions of potential benefits for Finland from<br> developing Silk-Route-based transportation solutions. Ten semi-structured interviews with eight freight<br> forwarding and carrier companies in Finland, Russia, Kazakhstan, and China were conducted. The study findings<br> show that there is a demand to transport cargo via the landbridge between China and Europe. Block trains have<br> been running from Germany and Finland to China, suggesting that there is a demand as well as a potential for<br> developing this route. Despite the challenge of a relatively small economy, there is potential for Finland to<br> benefit by its engagement in the Silk Route. A Scandinavian hub in Finland would ensure sufficient volumes to<br> fill block trains, which is the only profitable option for long-distance railway transportation.

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== Original document ==

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The different versions of the original document can be found in:

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* [https://zenodo.org/record/1485201 https://zenodo.org/record/1485201] under the license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode

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* [https://zenodo.org/record/1485201 https://zenodo.org/record/1485201],

: [http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1485200 http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1485200] under the license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode

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* [https://zenodo.org/record/1485201 https://zenodo.org/record/1485201],

: [http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1485201 http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1485201] under the license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode

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DOIS: 10.5281/zenodo.1485201 10.5281/zenodo.1485200

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