Golden age for train travel? Europe's railways never been busier, data shows

Rail travel in the EU reached a new peak in 2023, totalling 429 billion kilometres in distance travelled by passengers across the bloc, according to Eurostat.

This was the highest number since data collection began in 2004. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, 2020 was the worst year on record, with only 221 billion kilometres travelled.

In 2023, Germans led in both national and international travel, covering over 2.7 billion kilometres, followed by the French with more than 1.2 billion kilometres, and the Italians with 800 million kilometres.

Train journeys increased almost everywhere in the EU between 2022 and 2023, particularly in Luxembourg which was up 23%, followed by Ireland and Croatia which both saw a 22% increase, and Spain with 16%.

Greece (-17%), and Bulgaria (-5%) were the only countries that saw a decline.

French people were the most keen to take train trips abroad, with France being the country with the most international trips made, followed by Germany, Denmark and Sweden.

Meanwhile, rail freight transport contracted by 4.9% from 2022, totalling 378 billion tonne-kilometres (tkm) last year.

The number for rail freight transport in 2023 were the lowest since 2015 — except for 2020 when they fell by 8.4% to 367 tkm.

Video editor • Mert Can Yilmaz