The UK Office of Rail and Road (ORR) recently published its rail freight figures for the 12 months between April 2025 and March 2026, which showed how the sector is struggling also across the Channel. The total number of freight trains, down by 7% to 186,131, “was lower than any previous year”, ORR stated.
The number of freight trains across the UK was the lowest since at least 2003/04. Since then, there was a constant decrease from over 400,000 back then to fewer than 200,000 now. Moreover, year-on-year declines in 2025/26 were also recorded in net tonnes (-5%) net tonne-kilometres (-3%) train-kilometres (-7%) and freight vehicle kilometres (-1%).
GBRf’s share continues to grow
In terms of market players, GBRf increased its share from 30.3% to 31.4% in train-kilometres, which measures the kilometres driven by trains. DB Cargo UK and Freightliner Intermodal had a little over 22% each, followed by Heavy Haul Rail (12.6%) and Direct Rail Services (8.2%), the ORR report underlined.
In vehicle kilometres, which measures the number of kilometres travelled by rail vehicles, GBRf dominates even more with a third of the market. Freightliner Intermodal is a close second with 29.2%, with DB Cargo UK coming in third with 18.5%. Heavy Haul Rail had an 11.3% market share, with 5.3% for Direct Rail Services.
Construction slowdown
Net tonne-kilometres fell 3% to 16,055 million. Intermodal maritime, the main contributor to rail freight in the UK, remained stable at 6,386 million net tonne-kilometres (+0.8% year-on-year). On the other hand, the second industry moving freight trains, construction, fell 7% to 5,083 million net tonne-kilometres. There were two main factors behind the slowdown in rail transport of construction material, according to the ORR.
“Urban high-rise development was subdued in part due to delays in processing building applications following the new tall buildings regulations, impacting the transport of concrete by freight. The reset of the HS2 programme led to a temporary pause in the transfer of materials to HS2 construction sites”, the Office explained.
Coal and petroleum also took a hit, -27% and -33% respectively in terms of net tonne-kilometres, but they have a much lower market share compared to intermodal maritime and construction. The international category also had a negative year, with a 19% drop. Growth was recorded by intermodal non-maritime (+10%), industrial minerals (+3%), metals (+2%), biomass (+1%) and domestic waste (+0.8%).
Net tonnes decrease too
The net tonnage moved by rail fell to 69.5 million, 5% lower than the previous year. Coal accounted for almost 7% of the total, a 9% year-on-year increase. The rise in total net tonnes countered by the drop in net tonne-kilometres likely means that trains carrying coals increased in number but travelled shorter distances. The remaining categories, however, decreased by 6%, the ORR report said.