In 2024, Dutch rail transported 37,8 million tonnes of freight. That is 3.9% less than 2023, and the second consecutive year of decline. The lion’s share of that decline has to do with German energy: Germany’s leap forward into renewables has its consequences for rail freight in the Netherlands.
The German parliament passed its Coal Phase-Out Act in 2020. The legislation sets a target for Germany to achieve a coal-free power supply by 2038. When looking solely at the share of coal in the energy supply, the policy has been successful. German consumption of coal for its energy needs has plummeted in recent years.
Yet, a rejection of coal also means that Berlin needs to look for energy sources elsewhere. This is perhaps the downside of Germany’s energy transition: with coal being phased out, Russian gas shunned and nuclear power sent to the doghouse after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, the cost of energy has grown substantially. But rather than again looking to coal, Russian gas or nuclear, Germany is banking heavily on renewable energy for its future supply, its so-called “Energiewende”.
The Dutch freight sector suffers
Renewables, led by wind energy, are now the most important source of energy for the country. But across the border, in the Netherlands, the rail freight sector is feeling the effects of that policy.
“The [3.9%] decline in rail freight transportation is entirely due to fewer goods being transported from the Netherlands to other countries”, the Dutch statistics agency wrote in July. “This flow shrunk by 9.3% to 21,7 million tonnes.”
Within that trend, it is specifically coal transports to Germany that is the leading cause of the decline. Coal shipments by rail significantly decreased in 2024, amounting to 4,6 million tonnes. That marks a reduction of 2,9 million tonnes from 2023 and 5 million tonnes from the peak year of 2022.
The lack of demand for coal in Germany has hit the Dutch rail freight industry, and other types of freight fail to make up for the loss. That is also visible when looking at foreign destinations of Dutch rail freight. As Germany says no to coal, fewer Dutch trains have Germany as their destination compared to other countries.
Coal is the biggest loser as a share of the Dutch rail freight pie. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the biggest winners are containers, which are growing in popularity. In 2015, goods in containers accounted for about 36.5% of Dutch rail freight. By 2024, this had increased to nearly 48.7%, up by more than 12%.
In an earlier iteration of Data of the Week, the CEO of Belarusian Railway also pointed to the proliferation of containers.