How has the EU transport sector changed in the past years?
Looking for answers, the European Commission has recently released an overview of the latest developments in the sector, highlighting trends and issues for both the Union as a whole and individual Member States.
What picture emerges for rail freight? In 2021, it represented 16.4% of inland transport’s modal split, corresponding to just over 400 billion tkm. Despite this relatively modest figure, rail freight has performed better in Member States belonging to our Corridor than elsewhere in the EU.
Between 2005 and 2021, traffic increased in all ScanMed RFC’s current and prospective EU countries:
- Germany: +30%
- Austria: +15%
- Finland: +11%
- Sweden: +8%
- Italy: +7%
- Denmark: +1%
In 2021, in each country rail freight represented the following share of modal split:
- Sweden: 28.8%
- Austria: 27%
- Finland: 26.9%
- Germany: 18.6%
- Italy: 12%
- Denmark: 8.4%
Putting these numbers into a European perspective and looking at total volumes, Germany topped the ranking with over 120 billion tkm, while Italy, Sweden, and Austria contributed with over 20 tkm. Counting also Finland and Denmark, ScanMed’s Member States thus accounted for half of all EU rail freight traffic.
Meanwhile, between 2012 and 2021 the freight market shares of competitors increased in most EU countries, particularly in Italy (over 60%) and Sweden (around 50%). In Germany, too, the principal RU does not own the market’s absolute majority, as almost 60% of the market belongs to competitors.
To get a closer look at the report, click here.
