Rail passenger and freight traffic increased between 2015 and 2019, according to the eighth monitoring report on the state of the rail market, published by the European Commission on Wednesday 27 September.
On average, passenger traffic, in terms of passenger-kilometres, rose by 3% per year between 2015 and 2019. Over this pre-Covid-19 period, most countries’ modal share of rail passengers increased slightly. The length of the high-speed network has increased by almost 1,500 km between 2015 and 2020.
However, in 2020, the number of passenger-kilometres fell sharply by 46% due to the measures taken in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including travel restrictions. Similarly, the modal share of rail passengers fell by 2.4 percentage points as a result of the pandemic. The pandemic has impacted both the demand, where individual preferences led to a greater use of individual means of transport and the supply of rail transport, with the cancellation of some commercial trains. The number of passenger-kilometres on high-speed services fell considerably in 2020.
Nevertheless, the figures for 2019 show a promising trend in the number of passenger-kilometres. If the upward trend in passenger-kilometres observed in 2015-2019 were to continue, the targets set in the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy for passengers using high-speed services in 2030 and 2050 would be met and exceeded.
Freight traffic, in terms of tonne kilometres, also rose by 3% per year between 2015 and 2019. Rail freight was also affected by the pandemic but to a lesser extent than passenger rail, experiencing an 8% drop from 2019 to 2020.
For further information: https://aeur.eu/f/8r8 (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)