The Red Sea crisis was a new challenge for maritime shipping, which begs the question of whether the maritime shipping market will be able to adapt to new circumstances or whether the unstable situation in the Red Sea will push shippers to switch to rail transport.

Railroads play a crucial role in the Eurasian ITCs. Because of the speed and reliability of deliveries it provides, railway transportation is starting to compete with shipment by sea (advantage of speed) and air (advantage of cost). The competition with alternative routes has to be taken into account, whereas the strategy should be built around the available advantages of the existing routes and the complementary nature of others.