As the most suitable containerized goods, dangerous goods are mainly transported by container internationally. The development of rail-water intermodal transport in China is still in its infancy. In order to clarify the problems that restrict the high-quality development of rail-water intermodal transport of dangerous goods and accurately grasp the tasks of rail-water intermodal transport of dangerous goods, based on literature investigation, field investigation and expert discussion, this paper deeply studies the problems that restrict the high-quality development of rail-water intermodal transport of dangerous goods, such as insufficient planning of ports and railways, Poor connection of facilities, the performance and specifications of the carrier unit do not match, the list of names of dangerous goods combined transport is missing, the intermodal freight rate system has not yet been formed, the degree of information sharing is not high. This paper analyzes the good opportunities faced by the rail-water intermodal transport of dangerous goods in China, and puts forward key tasks from accelerating the work related to the name of dangerous goods in rail-water intermodal transport, unifying the technical requirements of dangerous goods transport containers in rail-water intermodal transport, increasing the categories of dangerous goods transport in railway containers, speeding up the research and revision of key standards, and carrying out research on improving the safety management of rail-water intermodal transport.