Railway passenger transport statistics - quarterly and annual data (2024)

In 2022, the EU rail passenger transport performance significantly recovered from the sharp fall in 2020

Between 2015 and 2019, the demand for rail passenger transport steadily increased, leading to an overall 10.2% increase between 2015 and 2019, when a peak of 414 billion passenger-kilometres (pkm) was registered (see Figure1). This upward trend was abruptly reversed in 2020 with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of strict precautionary measures and a reduced number of trains in operation since March 2020, rail passenger transport reduced significantly in all EU Member States. Compared with the previous year, rail passenger transport performance almost halved in the EU (-46.0%) reaching 224 billion pkm.

In 2021 only a partial recovery can be observed, with a 16.6% increase compared with 2020. However, in 2022, for most European countries, the rail passenger transport offer has already returned to a level close to that of 2019 and for few countries even higher. Overall, rail passenger transport increased by 50.9% in the EU compared with 2021, reaching a performance of 393 billion pkm. However, this level was still 5% below the performance levels observed before the pandemic. When looking at the quarterly performance, the first quarter of 2021 was still largely impacted by the remaining COVID-19 precautionary measures, showing a reduction of 47.8% compared with the first quarter of 2020. The three following quarters of 2021 and all quarters of 2022 recorded again substantial increases (compared with the same quarters of the previous year). The highest growths were recorded in the second quarter of 2021 (+98.3% compared with 2020), the fourth quarter of 2021 (+73.5% compared with 2020), the first quarter of 2022 (+77.2% compared with 2021) and in the second quarter of 2022 (+86.7% compared with 2021).

Figure 1: Rail passenger transport for main undertakings, EU, 2015-2022
(billion passenger-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat (rail_pa_typepas) and (rail_pa_quartal)

France and Germany were the largest contributors to the EU rail passenger transport performance in 2022

In 2022, six EU Member States fully recovered after the massive drop of rail passenger transport performance in 2020 and even surpassed the pre-COVID level (see Figure2). The highest increase in 2022 compared with 2019 among the EU Member States was recorded by Slovenia (+12.6%), followed by Croatia (+12.2%), France and Lithuania (both +6.5%), Bulgaria (+5.3%) and Denmark (+3.3%). The majority of EU Member States have not yet quite reached the levels observed in 2019. The highest decrease in 2022 compared with 2019 among the EU Member States, for which data are available, was observed in Ireland (-27.1%), followed by Slovakia (-20.0%), Italy (-17.8%), Latvia and Luxembourg (both -16.0%), Czechia (-13.5%), Portugal (-12.6%), Sweden (-11.9%) and Greece (-10.8%). A similar trend was observed in Norway (-17.1%), Switzerland (-11.3%), North Macedonia (-25.5%) and Montenegro (-22.7%. When comparing 2022 with 2020, all countries recorded a substantial increase in their rail passenger performance. The highest growths were recorded by Spain, Italy and Ireland. The three countries more than doubled from 2020 to 2022.

Figure 2: Rail passenger transport for main undertakings, 2019, 2020 and 2022
(billion passenger-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat (rail_pa_typepas) and (rail_pa_quartal)

In 2022, France and Germany were the largest contributors to the rail passenger transport performance in the EU, with 102.8billion pkm (or 26.1% of the EU total rail passenger transport performance) and 92.3billion pkm (or 23.5%), respectively. At the other end of the scale, nine EU Member States recorded less than 2billion pkm in 2022. The candidate countries Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia recorded less than 60million pkm in 2022.

From the perspective of the share between national and international transport, national transport is usually predominant. It represented more than 90% of the total rail passenger transport performance for all EU Member States in 2022, with the exception of Luxembourg and Czechia where national transport represented 69.4% and 83.4%, respectively (see Figure3). Only national passenger transport was reported for 2022 by Estonia, Greece and Latvia.

Figure 3: Rail passenger transport by type of transport for main undertakings, 2022
(%, based on passenger-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat (rail_pa_typepas)

In 2022, Luxembourg and Denmark had the highest numbers of passengers per capita transported by rail

When looking at the number of passengers transported by rail at national level, the situation was similar to the transport performance in passenger-kilometres. Between 2015 and 2019, the number of rail passengers transported steadily increased, leading to an overall 9.9% increase between 2015 and 2019, when a peak of 8.2 billion passengers were registered (see Figure4). This upward trend was abruptly reversed in 2020 (-42.2% compared with 2019), reaching only a total of 4.8 billion passengers. Partial recovery can be observed in 2021 and 2022, reaching 5.2 and 7.3 billion passengers, respectively. Despite an overall 39.8% increase from 2021 to 2022, this level represents still a 11.2% decrease compared with the pre-pandemic year 2019.

Figure 4: Rail passenger transport for main undertakings, EU, 2015-2022
(billion passengers)
Source: Eurostat (rail_pa_typepas)


With the exception of four EU Member States, all countries reported reductions in the number of passengers transported by rail in 2022 (see Figure5) compared with 2019. The largest decrease was recorded in Ireland, by 28.4%, followed by Italy (-22.8%), Greece (-21.3%), Finland (-18.0%), Slovakia (-17.3%), Latvia (-15.7%), Estonia (-14.9%), Germany (-14.7%), Luxembourg (-11.9%), Spain (-11.7%) and Lithuania (-10.6%). By contrast, four EU Member States recorded growths in 2022 compared with 2019. The highest rebound among the EU Member States was recorded by Denmark (+46.0%). This phenomenon can be mainly attributed to an increase in the number of companies offering international rail passenger services. Increases in passengers transported, albeit at a lower level, can also be observed in Bulgaria (+8.1%), Slovenia (+4.9%) and Romania (+2.1%). It should be noted that France, Croatia and Lithuania recorded decreases in the number of passengers transported by rail in 2022 compared with 2019 while they reported increases in the rail transport performance in passenger-kilometres. Conversely, Romania reported an increase in the number of passengers transported by rail in 2022 while a decrease was recorded in the rail transport performance.

Figure 5: Rail passenger transport for main undertakings, 2019, 2020 and 2022
(million passengers)
Source: Eurostat (rail_pa_typepas) and (rail_pa_quartal)

Regarding the number of passengers transported by rail, Germany was by far the largest contributor in the EU, recording 2.5billion passengers (or 34% of the EU total) in 2022. France, Italy and Spain followed with 1.1, 0.7 and 0.6 billion passengers, respectively. At the other end of the scale, Lithuania and Estonia registered less than 8million passengers in 2022. In the candidate countries Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia, less than one million passengers were recorded in 2022.

Figure6 presents the number of passengers transported in relation to the population of the reporting countries. At EU-level, an average of 16.3passengers per capita travelled by rail within their country in 2022, increasing by 5.7passengers per capita compared with 2020, but dropping by 2.1passengers per capita compared with 2019. Denmark and Luxembourg had the highest rates in 2022, with 51.1 and 33.7passengers per capita, respectively. The EFTA country Switzerland also registered a high rate, with 49.4passengers per capita. In 2019, Switzerland’s rate was even higher, with 60.6 passengers per capita. Germany, Austria and Sweden were the other EU Member States with more than 20 passengers per capita (29.9, 28.9 and 23.3, respectively). For seven EU Member States, the rate stood between 17 and 11 passengers per capita, for five others between nine and five passengers per capita, and another five countries had a rate between five and one passengers per capita. Greece registered the lowest rate with 1.5 rail passengers per capita in 2022. The candidate country North Macedonia recorded even less than 1 passenger per capita transported by rail in 2022.

When comparing the rates of 2022 with 2019, increases were observed for four EU Member States. The most significant increase was recorded by Denmark (+15.6 passengers per capita).

Figure 6: Rail passenger transport for main undertakings, 2019, 2020 and 2022
(passengers per capita)
Source: Eurostat (rail_pa_typepas) and (rail_pa_quartal)

Source data for tables and graphs

  • Railway passenger transport statistics - quarterly and annual data (7) Rail passenger transport statistics: tables and figures

Data sources

The figures presented in this article have been extracted from the Eurostat rail transport database. They include data on national, international and transit transport of the Member States, EFTA, candidate countries and potential candidates, collected according to the Regulation (EU) No 2018/643 - recast of Regulation (EU) No 2016/2032. The transport of passengers by metro, tram and/or light rail is excluded. The data presented are included in Eurostat’s dissemination database (reference tables are provided under each table and graph). There are no railways in Cyprus, Malta and Iceland.The various elements present data collected under the detailed reporting system, meaning that data include only main undertakings which are defined as follows:

  • Until 2015: undertakings with a total transport performance greater than 500 million tonne-km or 200 million passenger-km.
  • From 2016: undertakings with a total volume of goods transport of at least 200 million tonne-km or at least 500 000 tonnes or total volume of passenger transport of at least 100 million passenger-km.

Railway undertakings which are below the thresholds may however be included for some countries.Basic results and derived indicators (such as growth rates and shares in percentage of total) in the tables are rounded. However, the figures are based on the non-rounded original data. As a result, the sum of shares in percentage of total, as shown in the tables, is not necessarily equal to 100%.

Due to confidentiality, the EU aggregate for passenger transport by rail cannot be disclosed for years before 2015. That is why the data series presented in this article start in 2015 and not in 2012 as in the article Railway freight transport statistics.

Explanatory notes for countries are available in the metadata on the Eurostat website.

Context

The content of this statistical article is based on data collected within the framework of Regulation (EU) No 2018/643 recast of Regulation (EU) No 2016/2032.

Railway passenger transport statistics - quarterly and annual data (2024)

FAQs

What is the passenger traffic of railway? ›

Passenger traffic was 673 crore in FY24 increasing by about 5.2 percent compared to the previous year but falling short of the 808.6 crore seen in FY20, the Survey said. The Railways has set an ambitious target of ferrying around 830 crore passengers in 2024-25, however, it is struggling to live up to the target.

How many people use rail in the UK? ›

A total of 1.61 billion journeys were made by rail passengers in Great Britain in the latest year (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024). This is a 16% increase on the 1.38 billion journeys in the previous year (1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023). There were 405 million journeys in the latest quarter (1 January to 31 March 2024).

How many trains are there in the UK? ›

As of 31 March 2023, there were 15,220 railway vehicles registered in operation for all passenger train operators. Of these, 70% were electric, 19% were diesel, 7% were bi-mode and 4% were locomotive hauled. The average age of rolling stock for all passenger train operators as of 31 March 2023 was 16.7 years.

How many km of railways are there in the UK? ›

The National Rail network of 10,072 route miles (16,116 km) in Great Britain and 189 route miles (303 route km) in Northern Ireland carries over 18,000 passenger and 1,000 freight trains daily.

How many people travel by train each year in the US? ›

The number of passengers who travel aboard Amtrak's railcars typically amounted to over 30 million passengers per year pre-pandemic and totaled around 22 million in 2022.

What is the passenger traffic? ›

Passenger Traffic means number of passenger embarkation and disembarkation.

Which country has the most passenger rail? ›

Passenger-kilometres of rail transport per year
RankCountry/RegionPassenger-kilometres (billions)
1China1,550
2India1,157
3Japan446.7
4Russia133.6
33 more rows

Which country has the most rail network in the world? ›

While the United States has the largest overall rail network, China boasts the largest highspeed rail network. In 2021 the country operated nearly 40,500 kilometers of highspeed rail lines.

Who uses trains the most? ›

India is the globe's overwhelming rail usage leader, with over 8 billion passenger trips per year making up more than a trillion kilometers traveled. Japan is a relatively distant second at roughly 6.6 billion passenger trips covering a far smaller 150 billion kilometers.

How many trains are there in the USA? ›

With more than 28,000 locomotives, 1.6 million rail cars and freight rail lines spanning across 140,000 miles, America's freight rail system is perfectly positioned to be the most efficient and cost-effective transportation network covering the 3.12 million square miles of the continental U.S.

What do they call trains in England? ›

In the UK, a 'rake of coaches / carriages' describes a set of passenger coaches pulled by a locomotive. Trains can also be described as a 'formation', particularly when both passenger and freight stock is used.

What percentage of trains are electrified in the UK? ›

The number of route miles electrified in these years was answered to a written question in parliament. In November 2019 the annual statistics for route miles electrified was published by the DfT and shows that 38% of the UK network is now electrified.

What are the 3 largest railways in the world? ›

The United States rail network with the total operating route of length 250,000 km, holds the title of the world's largest railway network, followed by the railway network of China, Russia and India.

How big is the passenger rail market in the UK? ›

The market size, measured by revenue, of the Intercity Passenger Rail Transport industry was £14.1bn in 2023.

What percentage of people use trains in the UK? ›

Rail travel in the context of other transport modes

In England in 2021, rail trips accounted for just over 1% of all trips. The distance travelled and the time spent travelling by rail increased in England in 2021 from the previous year but was still considerably lower than 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is traffic in railway? ›

(reɪl ˈtræfɪk ) noun. the vehicles, passengers, or freight that are moving from place to place by railway.

What is the traffic control of the railway? ›

Modern railway traffic control techniques are principally automated developments of earlier systems based on timetabling, operating rules, and signals. The scheduling of trains in a working timetable predetermines the basic running patterns and the daily work pattern of personnel.

What are the railroad traffic signals? ›

Reading Color Light Signals

Green indicates clear, the train can proceed. Yellow indicates approach, but at a restricted speed. Be prepared to stop at the next signal. Red indicates stop, the block is currently occupied.

What is the handedness of rail traffic? ›

Gradually, a massive network of railways and tram tracks was built, with all railway vehicles driven on the left-hand side. However, it took another half-century, until 1924, until left-hand traffic was legally mandated.

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