The Spanish National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) has published the national rail freight statistics for 2025. The most noteworthy development is a return to growth, for the first time since pandemic year 2021. Some companies fared better than others.
Rail operators in Spain moved 21.59 million net tonnes of freight in 2025. This marks a 2.6% growth compared to 2024, the first year-on-year growth since 2021. In terms of transport performance, measured in net tonne-kilometres, Spain recorded an increase of 6.7%. This translates into a total of 9.82 billion net tonne-kilometres.
Those are positive numbers, especially when compared to the trend of the last few years. The Spanish rail freight industry peaked in 2015, after which it embarked on a path of decline with an exception in 2017. The only growth year since then was 2021. Spanish rail freight underperformed during all other years compared to the years before.
Whereas the industry as a whole grew, this is not true for all companies within the industry. Renfe Mercancías, Spain’s state-owned rail freight operator, performed badly in particular. The company, which is outsourcing its main freight activities to a joint venture with Medway, lost 20.3% of its volume and 12.6% of its tonne-kilometre performance. This amounts to 8.28 million tonnes and 3,41 billion tonne-kilometres respectively.
Private operators did much better
By contrast, the private operators performed better and claimed a bigger market share. Collectively, they already overtook Renfe Mercancías’ market share in 2023.
One operator stands out among the rest, owing to its fast growth: Medway. The MSC subsidiary expands much faster than its fellow private operators at +60.5% in terms of tonne-kilometres and +50.2% in volume.
By comparison, Captrain, Continental and Transervi achieved tonne-kilometre growth rates of between 2.6% and 4.1%. In terms of tonnage, Captrain and Transervi grew by 24.8% and 29.6%. Continental grew by 1.8%.
Activity of rail freight companies in Spain
| Company | Net tonne-kilometres | Annual change | Net tonnes | Annual change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renfe Mercancías | 3,409.8 | -12.6% | 8.280 | -20.3% |
| Alternative operators total | 6,412.4 | +20.9% | 13.308 | +24.9% |
| Captrain | 2,041.7 | +4.1% | 4.856 | +24.8% |
| Continental | 1,312.9 | +2.6% | 2.104 | +1.8% |
| Medway | 1,254.2 | +60.5% | 2.862 | +50.2% |
| Transervi | 497.6 | +4.1% | 1.012 | +29.6% |
| Other operators | 1,306.0 | +62.3% | 2.474 | +23.1% |
Medway’s growth figures are attributable to its involvement in intermodal transport. That is perhaps unsurprising, given that Spain is relatively big on intermodal rail. Over half of all rail freight is intermodal (53% in volume, 58.8% in tonne-kilometres). The European average is 33%, according to combined transport association UIRR’s 2024 report.
The MSC subsidiary grew 70.6% year-on-year in the intermodal segment, for a total of two million tonnes and slightly over a billion tonne-kilometres. In the “full wagon” segment, the operator grew by 25.5% to 0.87 million tonnes and 221 million tonne-kilometres.
In intermodal, five operators account for 81% of total net tonne-kilometres: Continental (22%), Renfe Mercancías (21%), Medway (18%), Captrain (15%) and Transervi (5%). Smaller operators, those with market shares of less than 5%, have seen strong growth of 57.4% in intermodal transport, rising from 710 million to 1.12 billion tonne-kilometres.
The private operators do relatively well here, which CNMC explains by the standardised nature of intermodal wagons. This makes it easier for new companies to enter into the market.
The cost picture
Lastly, CNMC revealed that the costs of rail freight operations in Spain had grown by 3.3% for a total of €335.28 million. In 2021, this figure was still €274.38 million. Costs for rolling stock and track access charges grew in particular, at +22.9% and +25.5% respectively.