Hupac Group increased volumes in 2025 despite widespread rail disruption, underlining the resilience of Europe’s combined transport sector. The Swiss intermodal operator carried around 975,000 road consignments, equivalent to 1.85 million TEU, marking a 4.3% year-on-year increase. Growth came despite a year marked by construction works, diversions and temporary line closures across key corridors, particularly in Germany, Switzerland and Italy.
The company said it had maintained its leading position on the Rhine-Alpine TEN-T corridor, even as infrastructure constraints intensified. Performance was notably affected by the complete closure of the Rhine Valley railway line during June, one of the busiest months of the year. Against this backdrop, Hupac highlighted the importance of resilient service planning and closer coordination with rail partners.
Steady gains on Belgium – Italy
Last year, Hupac’s core Transalpine business through Switzerland recorded a 4.5% rise, equivalent to 24,100 additional consignments. This growth was partly driven by newly acquired traffic on the Belgium–Italy axis, offsetting underlying weakness in traditional north–south flows. Transalpine traffic via France and Austria also increased, rising by 26.9% or around 5,100 consignments.
Meanwhile, non-transalpine traffic in continental and maritime sectors reached just under 390,000 consignments. “The volume development is encouraging overall, especially against the backdrop of major challenges such as the complete closure of the Rhine Valley railway line in the busy month of June,” said Hans-Jörg Bertschi, Chairman of the Board of Directors.
New CEO appointed
The news comes just one month after the company appointed a new CEO. Britta Weber, currently Vice President UPS Healthcare for Europe and Asia, will join Hupac on 1 July. She will become the first woman to lead the company in its nearly 60-year history (see a full report in our sister service RailFreight.com).
Weber succeeds Michail Stahlhut, with the board highlighting her international logistics experience and strategic focus on sustainable transport and network development. “Hupac stands for much more than a successful company,” she said in a pre-appointment statement. “It has a clear social mission, sustainable logistics and the consistent shift of transport to rail. I am particularly looking forward to working with the strong management team, whom I hold in high regard for their achievements.”
Infrastructure pressures persist
Hupac did warn that infrastructure constraints will continue to weigh on operations in 2026. The outlook is similar to that faced by the company last year. Planned closures include a two-week shutdown of the Rhine Valley line in Germany, as well as a five-week closure between Iselle and Domodossola in Italy. Additional disruption is expected from the Troisdorf–Wiesbaden diversion project later in the year.
To mitigate these impacts, the company is working with rail partners to develop diversion concepts and maintain service reliability. It is also calling for stronger coordination of works across the EU-designated transport corridors “TEN-T” programme, alongside minimum capacity thresholds of 90% on alternative routes. Maintaining train length, weight and loading profiles on diversionary routes remains a key operational requirement.
Investment and network expansion
Hupac is investing in both services and infrastructure to strengthen modal shift to rail. Since early 2026, it has increased frequencies on key routes, including Köln Nord–Busto Arsizio and Ludwigshafen–Busto Arsizio. According to the outgoing CEO, Michail Stahlhut, higher-frequency services help reduce the impact of delays and improve reliability for customers.
“The launch of high-frequency services shows that the negative effects of delays on customers can be minimised,” said Stahlhut. “We intend to consistently expand our services in the coming years in order to be able to offer our customers a reliable service even in this challenging infrastructure situation.” The company has also expanded its footprint in Spain through the Combiconnect terminal in Barcelona.
Despite overall growth, Hupac has warned of a continued decline in combined transport volumes on the north–south axis through Switzerland. Since 2021, traffic has trended downward. Hupac is calling for continued support measures, particularly the extension of operating subsidies for transalpine combined transport beyond 2030. It argues that long-term policy certainty is essential to offset rising costs linked to infrastructure disruption and to sustain modal shift ambitions across Europe.