Bundesnetzagentur publishes Railway Market Analysis
Year of issue 2024
Date of issue 2024.11.20
The Bundesnetzagentur has published the Railway Market Analysis 2024.
Different developments in passenger and freight transport performance
In 2023 there were opposing trends in the demand for passenger and freight services, with an increase in regional and local passenger and long-distance passenger transport performance and a decrease in freight transport performance.
Non-federally owned railway undertakings' performance in all three segments of transport services developed better than the overall market, with slight increases in their market shares.
Revenue increases in all rail transport service segments in 2023
In the 2023 reporting period, there was an increase in revenue across all the transport segments (freight, long-distance passenger, and regional and local passenger transport). Total market revenue amounted to about €26bn, representing an increase of nearly 8%. As in the previous reporting year, long-distance transport registered the largest increase both in terms of percentage and in actual figures.
Punctuality
Following large decreases in network-wide punctuality in 2021 and 2022, there was another decline in 2023, albeit smaller than in the previous years. The rate of train cancellations increased further and was about twice as high in 2023 as in 2019.
Challenges
The "Germany Ticket" led to a significant increase in the demand for regional and local passenger transport services. Since 2005 transport performance in both passenger and freight services on Germany's railway network has increased by more than 40%. This increase is considerably larger than for the other modes of transport. As a result, the trains and the railway network are increasingly congested.
The report has been published on the Bundesnetzagentur's website at www.bundesnetzagentur.de/eisenbahn-marktuntersuchung (in German). Printed copies of the report are available on request.
