EU Rail Transport: Passenger & Freight Performance by Country 2024

Introduction

In 2024, rail passenger transport in the EU totaled 443 billion passenger-kilometres (pkm), marking a 5.8% increase from 419 billion pkm in 2023. This is the highest recorded level since data collection began in 2004.

Passenger Transport Performance

Germany reported the highest passenger volume, with 2,904 million passengers. France followed with 1,320 million passengers, and Italy recorded 843 million passengers. Lithuania reported the lowest volume at 5 million, with Estonia at 8 million, and Greece at 14 million passengers. Hungary saw the largest growth in passenger numbers at 60.0%, followed by Latvia at 13.9% and Ireland at 10.0%. Romania and Bulgaria experienced declines of 4.9% and 3.1% respectively.

Passenger Transport per Capita

Luxembourg had the highest passenger-per-capita ratio at 32.8, followed by Denmark at 31.0 and Germany at 30.0. Greece and Lithuania had the lowest ratios, both at 1.5, followed by Bulgaria and Romania at 3.6.

Freight Transport Overview

In 2024, rail freight transport in the EU reached 375 billion tonne-kilometres (tkm), a decrease of 0.8% from 378 billion tkm in 2023. Germany led in freight performance with 126,320 million tkm, followed by Poland with 56,713 million tkm and France with 32,249 million tkm. Ireland, Luxembourg, Greece, and Estonia all recorded less than 1,000 million tkm.

Key Rail Freight Commodities

The main goods transported by rail in the EU in 2024 included metal ores at 12.2%, coke and refined petroleum products at 10.1%, and basic metals and fabricated metal products at 8.9%.