IRG-Rail has published its 14th Annual Market Monitoring Report. This report provides a yearly overview of market developments and economic conditions in the railway sector in 31 IRG-Rail member countries in 2024 and allows comparison over time regarding the development and competitiveness of the railway market.
In 2024, 4.63 billion train-km were operated in IRG-Rail countries, slightly exceeding the 2023 and 2019 level. Passenger traffic continued to increase (+6% over the year in passenger-km), now well beyond its 2019 level. On the other hand, rail freight transport could not yet recover from the downturn of 2023 but fell again in 2024 (-2% in net tonne-km).
Track access charges (TAC) per train-km rose in 2024 for both passenger and freight services, but while the former has grown steadily over the last five years (+3% per year on average), freight TAC increased (+6%) for the first time after slight declines over the 2020-2023 period. Regarding railway undertaking revenues, a yearly increase was recorded for both passenger and freight services, driven mostly by expanding demand for the former and by high inflation in costs for the latter.
The report consists of two documents: the Main Report, which presents overall results at the European level and the Working Document, which provides country-specific details. An Excel spreadsheet containing the data used in the report is also provided.