1. Summary
In 2024, rail passenger traffic volumes continued to grow across all UIC regions, resulting in an overall increase of 7% compared to 2023. For the first time since the pandemic, global annual passenger traffic returned to the 2019 pre-COVID levels.
On the other hand, rail freight transport in 2024 did not change, with no overall growth. This global stagnation is the result of opposing trends, with widespread decline in many companies, particularly across Europe, where freight traffic volumes fell by an estimated 8% in the EU-27, while being offset by significant growth in India, where Indian Railways recorded a 6% increase.
Note: Not all railway undertakings participated in the survey. As such, the market overview presented here is partial and should be interpreted with this limitation in mind.
2. Passenger traffic trends
Rail passenger traffic around the world dropped by more than 50% (see Figures 1 and 3) in 2020 due to the pandemic. Recovery was gradual through 2021 and 2022, then accelerated markedly in 2023 and culminated in a full return to pre-crisis levels by 2024. (....)