Annual IRG-Rail Market Monitoring Report Published

The IRG-Rail report provides an annual overview of market developments and economic conditions in the railway sector of member countries, as well as a comparison of developments and competitiveness within the rail market.

ZAGREB, April 9, 2025 - The group of independent railway regulatory bodies, IRG-Rail (Independent Regulators’ Group - Rail), which brings together railway regulatory authorities from 31 European countries, including HAKOM, has published its 13th annual report on railway market monitoring. The report covers the year 2023 and includes data collected from all IRG-Rail member countries.

This report consists of two documents: the “Main Report,” which presents the overall results at the European level, and the “Working Document,” which provides details specific to each country and comparisons between countries. The report contains an annual overview of market developments and economic conditions in the railway sector, as well as a comparison of developments and competitiveness within the railway market over time.

In 2023, two opposite situations could be observed in the European railway market. On the one hand, demand for passenger rail transport rose sharply—by 12 percent compared to 2022—thus exceeding the level from 2019. On the other hand, rail freight transport suffered the consequences of the economic slowdown, with a decrease in net tonne-kilometres of 8 percent compared to 2022. Inflation in the IRG-Rail countries remained high, averaging 7 percent, contributing to an increase in revenues of railway undertakings, especially in freight transport, despite the decline in traffic.

Each market monitoring report focuses on one or more topics. This year, the report includes a chapter that discusses the main characteristics of European railway infrastructure managers. Their diversity is reflected through a range of different indicators, which cover the network, activities, organizational model, as well as financial indicators.
New indicators included in the freight market section of the report (freight terminals, punctuality, and intermodal transport) and in the passenger market section (market share of PSO and non-PSO operators, punctuality, PSO passenger-kilometres awarded through tenders, and the number of passenger stations) can be found in the report itself via the provided link.

Since 2013, IRG-Rail has been publishing annual reports on the monitoring of railway services markets, prepared by the (Market Monitoring Working Group), with data collected from its members.