After decreases of 2.2% and 6.1% in 2019 and 2020 (compared with the previous year), EU rail freight transport performance saw some recovery in 2021. To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Member States put in place restrictive measures that had a significant impact on rail freight transport, although rail passenger transport was more affected. In 2021, there was an indication of some recovery, with rail freight transport up 8.7% compared with 2020, reaching almost the high level of 2018, at 399 billion tonne-kilometres (tkm). (....)