Europe's rail travel is on the rise
In today's episode of Behind the Figures, we look at the EU's passenger rail transport, which reached a new high in 2023, increasing by over 11%.
Published on November 21, 2024
AI-generated picture
Mauro traded Sardinia for Eindhoven and has been an editor at IO+ for 3 years. As a GREEN+ expert, he closely monitors all developments surrounding the energy transition. He enjoys going on reports and likes to tell stories using data and infographics. He is the author of several series: Green Transition Drivers, Road to 2050, and Behind the Figures.
In 2023, 429 billion passenger kilometers (pkm) were registered via rail in the European Union. This number is the highest ever recorded since the start of data collection in 2004 and an 11.2% increase compared to the previous year. Pkm stands for the transport of a person over a 1-kilometer distance.
EU’s statistic portal Eurostat reports this figure, underlining how passenger performance improved throughout the year. The report also notes that of the 8 billion passengers recorded in 2023, nearly 50% traveled in Germany (33.9%) and France (15%). Overall, most countries saw a rise in passengers compared to the previous year.
About Behind the Figures
In Behind the Figures, we examine one figure in every episode. Using charts and graphs, we break down the figures and provide context to help you make more sense of them.
View Behind the Figures SeriesSimilar trends in the Netherlands
However, in the Eurostat dataset, figures for Belgium, Hungary, and the Netherlands are flagged as confidential and thus are not shown. However, figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) database show a similar trend in the Netherlands, too, yet traffic volumes are still inferior to pre-COVID-19 levels.
The state-owned NS is the main passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. According to its 2023 report, NS passengers covered 15.536 billion kilometers last year– over 80% of the total– marking a 16.7% hike compared to 2022.
Nevertheless, NS notes in its report that despite the increase 2023’s transport level was 89% of 2019 levels. The rail operator calls this the new normal, seeing the volumes of the first full year without COVID-19 restrictions given the normalization of home working, especially for frequent commuters.
NS struggles
As rail infrastructure company ProRail workers strike for a higher salary, things are not going well at NS either. The railway operator reported a €109 million loss in the first half of 2024. In spite of a 6.4% surge in passengers compared to the same period last year, train service operating costs remain higher than ticket sales– the company’s primary revenue stream.
These years’ surging inflation is the main reason NS justifies its cost increase. In 2025, train ticket prices will further rise by 6%. Initially, the hike should have been by 12%. The price hike was halved following negotiations with the government. Last year, the cabinet gave €120 million to the company to keep prices untouched. For 2025, this cost is equally divided between the government, the NS, and passengers– each contributing €40 million– thus limiting the price hike.
Previous research by the Knowledge Institute for Mobility (KiM) showed that every percent price increase leads to a 0.45% decrease in the number of passengers. The company fears this drop might be more significant.
Electromobility: Is the German transport revolution now also collapsing?
The high job losses in former key industries go hand in hand with a loss of tax revenue. The causes are always the same: high energy prices and excessive bureaucracy, Bernd Maier-Leppla writes.
Freight transport trends
Besides passenger mobility, railways are also used to move goods. According to the Dutch Statistics Bureau (CBS), the number of freight transported by rail dropped by 12% in 2023. This figure comes after the record year of 2022 when 44.5 million tonnes of goods were transported via the railways. This decline is due to the amount of coal and containers transported.
Nearly half of rail freight is transported in containers. Container freight fell by 11.5% in 2023, with the number of transported containers suffering an identical drop. Coal and metal ore are the second most common types of cargo transported. Metal ores are rocks containing enough metals and metal compounds for extraction; an example is bauxite, the main source of aluminum. In 2023, 22.1% less coal and 4.6% metal ore traveled through the Dutch railways.
Railway cargo transport saw a decline on the European level, too, with a 4.9% drop compared to 2022 and the lowest traffic volume since 2015—except for 2020.