The volume of rail freight on the Dutch rail network has shrunk for the third year in a row. As in previous years, the decline of coal transportation accounts for much of the explanation. The intermodal segment remains resilient, but infrastructure manager ProRail points out that there are vulnerabilities that could undermine it.
ProRail published its annual freight report for 2025 last week. The infrastructure manager identifies various major trends: coal transportation and single wagonload operations are on the decline, whereas intermodal has grown slightly.
The total rail freight volume in the Netherlands in 2025 amounted to 38.1 million tonnes. This includes imports, exports, domestic and transit traffic and is a 4% (-1.6 million tonnes) decline compared to 2024.
In similar fashion to 2023 and 2024, the volume of coal has shrunk significantly. In 2024, 5 million tonnes of coal were transported on the Dutch rail network. Last year, this number fell by another 30% to 3.5 million tonnes. The huge impact of this trend on the overall volume is clear: the decrease in coal transportation of 1.5 million tonnes covers the vast majority of the total decline of 1.6 million tonnes.
Likewise, the volume of liquid bulk contracted by 0.3 million tonnes (-5%). Breakbulk and dry bulk both fell by around 0.1 million tonnes.
Intermodal stands, but does it stand strong?
By contrast, the intermodal segment has grown slightly, from 17.9 million tonnes in 2024 to 18.2 million tonnes in 2025. That is a cautiously positive development. As rail freight loses volumes in traditional segments, the intermodal sector provides new business opportunities.
However, as ProRail points out, intermodal is not risk-free. It is partially dependent on world trade. The inflow of containers in, for instance, the Port of Rotterdam rises when trade barriers are low and vice versa. Intermodal is also sensitive to supply chain disruptions, such as the inaccessibility of the Suez Canal or container shortages. Lastly, the competitiveness of rail compared with other modes of transport plays an important role in the size of intermodal rail.
A notable development concerns the growing popularity of the “rocktainer ore”: iron ore transported in intermodal loading units. At the same time, ProRail records a decline in ore transportation in conventional loading units, indicating a shift from one type of loading unit to another. The total volume transported in ILUs increased by 4% to 21.7 million tonnes. They now account for a 57% share of the entire rail freight volume.
Single wagonload on the decline
It appears that single wagonload (SWL) operations in the Netherlands are subject to some of the same pressures as elsewhere in Europe. SWL accounts for around half of the decline in the number of freight trains that cross the border with Germany. In total, 2,050 fewer trains crossed the border in 2025 compared to 2024. An important cause of this development is the switch from SWL trains to block trains, says ProRail.
Block trains are cheaper and faster for shippers, who are now choosing to send entire trains less frequently as opposed to a couple of wagons every day. The consequence is that SWL services operate with lower frequencies or are cancelled altogether, the Dutch infrastructure manager explains.