Freight transport Rail's share of freight transport is falling - roads are benefiting
Goods were also increasingly transported by road in 2024. At the same time, freight transport by rail continued to decline, as federal statistics show.
24.11.2025, 11:21
SDA
Figures from the latest freight transport statistics from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) confirm this shift. While the total amount of goods transported hardly changed, the proportion of goods transported by rail fell by 2.6 percent compared to the previous year. In contrast, road freight transport recorded a 1.4% increase in its market share.
9.6 billion tons per kilometer were transported by rail last year. This is the lowest figure for rail freight transport in 15 years. According to the FSO, this decline last year may have been caused by bad weather and construction sites on rail sections relevant to transportation.
Freight transport by rail has thus lost around two percent of its market share in favor of road transport. The latter currently stands at 63 percent.
The tendency for goods to be increasingly transported by road was previously observed in both cross-border and transalpine goods traffic.
