European rail freight cannot seem to stop losing volumes, as the Q1 2026 data from Eurostat highlights. Total tonnes fell by 2.97% while tonne-kilometres decreased by 5.81% when compared to the same period last year.
Only France, Croatia, Estonia, Denmark and North Macedonia recorded positive trends in both categories. Ukraine, Germany, Poland and Italy experienced impactful decreases, especially considering the volumes they move. The remaining majority of European countries either stagnated or declined.
France’s deceiving numbers
Freight trains in France moved 6.76% more tonnes in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, going over 20 million. Transport performance also increased 4.71% to more than 8.8 billion tonne-kilometres. However, this trend cannot be only linked to organic growth in the French sector.
The main rail link between Italy and France was closed between August 2023 and March 2025, causing freight to shift to the road. Thus, the industry was still dealing with a key artery being closed during last year’s Q1. With the line reopening, some volumes have returned to the railways, sparking this quarter’s positive numbers.
Superpowers struggle
Ukraine, Germany and Poland, by far the three largest rail freight industries in Europe, all failed to gain volumes between Q1 2025 and Q1 2026. Ukraine recorded the worst performance, with a 6.36% decrease in total tonnes and a 15.57% drop in tonne-kilometres. Germany, which moved twice Kyiv’s volumes, saw a 3.99% and 3.51% decline respectively. Poland moved 2.27% fewer tonnes, while tonne-kilometres remained stable.
Among other notable players in the European rail freight market, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Türkiye all lagged behind. Vienna and Ankara posted positive figures for total tonnes (1.34% and 0.31%), but negative for tonne-kilometres (-4.73% and -3.15%). Italy (-3.43% and -2.7%) and Switzerland (-3% and -8.44%) underperformed in both categories.
Contained growth
The growing tendencies in Croatia, Estonia, Denmark and North Macedonia, albeit important, deal with much lower values. All combined, they moved less than seven million tonnes and tonne-kilometres amounted to 1.36 billion, with Croatia doing most of the heavy lifting (3.3 million tonnes and 768 million tonne-kilometres).