Renfe Mercancías, Spain’s national rail freight operator, has performed worse than ever in the first half of 2025. That follows from numbers published by El Economista based on an internal company report. Between the Renfe Group’s branches, the freight department stands out as the problem child.
The freight business’ revenue declined by 15%, for a total of 82,2 million euros. In terms of tonnage, the company went through a 21% drop. El Economista did not specify any numbers. Renfe Mercancías’ carried a freight volume of 10,4 million tonnes throughout 2024, so a 21% semi-annual decline likely represents a loss of around a million tonnes.
In 2023, Renfe Mercancías moved a total of 11,8 million tonnes of freight, meaning that the 2024 number represented a decline of 8% already. The downturn at the freight subsidiary seems to be speeding up. At their core, the business operations are simply not profitable: EBITDA for H1 2024 was negative 17,1 million euros, its worst result to date.
That all has an impact on the overall performance of the Renfe group. With a net loss of 28,9 million euros, Mercancías alone is responsible for about 35% of the company’s losses. Those amounted to 81,8 million euros, 37% more than in H1 2024.
To make matters worse, Renfe Mercancías was fined 50 million euros for distorting competition in July.
Renfe Group
However, the group’s revenue remained steady at 2,163 billion euros (+4.1%), primarily thanks to passenger services. Those are good for some 1,916 billion euros in revenue, 5% more than in H1 2024.
The maintenance department generated a revenue of around 300 million euros, but incurred a 12,3 million euro loss. The rail equipment rental services helped slightly with a 2,5 million euro profit. In total, the group’s EBITDA amounted to 166 million euros (+7,6%), meaning that the operations of the group as a whole did better than last year.
The freight downturn, however, does not exactly come as a surprise. The company’s results from 2024 were the worst in two decades, and there has been no reason to expect a turnaround. If there has been any impactful rail trend in Spain, it is one to the contrary: the country’s rail network is in a state of disarray. Often dubbed “railway chaos” in Spanish media, the current situation sees many trains cancelled, delayed or broken down.
Renfe has realised for a while now that something at Renfe Mercancías needs to change. And it most likely will, because the company is planning to enter into a joint venture with MSC subsidiary Medlog. Both companies are supposed to take a 50% share. Medlog would be responsible for the operational management of the company, and Renfe would transfer most of its business (steel, intermodal and “multi-product” services) to it.
That does not mean that Mercancías will cease to exist entirely. Renfe has assured that freight operations will remain in the group, but that will likely be in a limited fashion, such as for military mobility operations.