The rail freight volume transported on the Lithuanian rail network has shrunk by 4.7% in 2025 compared to 2024. This number is a continuation of an already existing trend, whereby international routes are fewer and fewer.
Intermodal operations particularly suffered in 2025. Their volume declined by 70.8% year-on-year. International transport volumes overall fell by 19.3%, of which transit volumes contracted by 24.4%. The total volume, after its 4.7% decline, amounted to 24.4 million tonnes.
It was clearly not a good year for the Lithuanian freight business. Revenues in the industry fared slightly better — they decreased by ‘just’ 2% to 263.6 million euros.
The plummeting trend in intermodal transport reveals the challenges of the rail freight industry and the need to strengthen its competitiveness. In the long term, this is closely related to more sustainable transport solutions and the modal shift from road to rail, says the Lithuanian Communications Regulatory Authority (RRT).
Points of attention
The RRT suggests that both the market structure and tax policy impact the rail freight sector negatively. “Today, the Lithuanian railway transport market is formally open, but 96% of freight transport is still concentrated in one hand”, commented the organisation’s chairwoman Jūratė Šovienė. “It is difficult for railway carriers to compete with road transport, and one of the main reasons is the unfavorable tax structure.”
“The intensity of use of the Lithuanian railway infrastructure is about a third of the European average. It is worth seriously assessing for policymakers what measures are needed to make this infrastructure more efficient — to become a competitive alternative to road freight transport, strengthen business logistics opportunities and reduce the burden on the state budget”, Šovienė continued. The Lithuanian government increased its subsidies for rail infrastructure to 82.2 million euros in 2025, compared to 65.6 million in 2024.
Despite LTG Cargo controlling 96% of all freight transport, there are six operators active on the Lithuanian market. These include LTG Link, LTG Cargo, Akmenės cement, Gargždai railway, Transachema and the Polish company ORLEN Kolej. The Latvian state company LDz Cargo also entered the market, but its market share remains very small.