Bundesnetzagentur publishes Railway Market Analysis
Year of issue 2025
Date of issue 2025.12.19
The Bundesnetzagentur has today published the Railway Market Analysis 2025.
Different developments in transport performance
In the 2024 reporting period, there were different trends in the demand for passenger services. While there was a significant increase in regional and local passenger transport performance to a total of 65bn passenger-kilometres (2023: 59bn), there was a slight decrease in long-distance passenger transport performance to 47bn passenger-kilometres (2023: 48bn). There was also a year-on-year decrease in freight transport performance to 134bn tonne-kilometres (2023: 137bn). Non-federally owned railway undertakings recorded a slight increase in market shares in all three segments of transport services.
Revenue increases in 2024
In 2024 there was a year-on-year increase in revenue of between 3% and 4% in both the regional and local passenger segment and the freight segment. Revenue in the long-distance passenger segment was about the same as the previous year. Total market revenue amounted to around €26.2bn, representing an increase of nearly 3%.
Punctuality – new record low
Following large decreases in network-wide punctuality in the previous years, there was another decline in 2024. Only 55% of freight trains arrived punctually at their destination. Overall, 59% of all stops for regional and local passenger trains were reached with less than five minutes’ delay, while the figure for long-distance passenger trains was 84%. In addition, there was another increase in the proportion of trains that were partially or completely cancelled.
Economic developments
In 2024 there was a drop in energy prices following the strong increases of the previous years. There was a slight improvement in the railway undertakings’ operating results in the regional and local passenger segment, but a considerable decline in the long-distance passenger segment. The sum of operating results of all railway undertakings in the freight segment remained clearly negative.
The report has been published on the Bundesnetzagentur’s website at www.bundesnetzagentur.de/650410 (in German). Printed copies of the report are available on request. An English translation of the report will be published on the Bundesnetzagentur’s website in due course.