- Germany recorded 109.1 billion passenger kilometres on rail.
- France registered 107.3 billion passenger kilometres.
- More than 90pc of rail travel in most EU countries remains domestic.
- The EU railway network has shrunk by almost 8pc since 1990.
- Spain increased its rail network by 12.2pc between 1990 and 2024.
The European Union has recorded 8.7 billion passenger rail journeys in the latest reported year. This total represents 444.5 billion passenger kilometres and shows an 8.75pc increase from 2023. Germany and France lead the market in passenger kilometres travelled.
Italy contributed 55.9 billion passenger kilometres while smaller countries such as Luxembourg recorded the highest journeys per capita at 46.2 trips per person. Austria and Denmark followed with 35.6 and 35.2 trips per person respectively. Greece registered the lowest usage at 1.4 trips per person.
The European Commission has proposed measures to simplify cross border rail travel through single tickets for multi operator journeys. Several countries continue to invest in high speed lines and overnight sleeper services to support further growth in rail usage.
