{"id":266756,"date":"2025-08-14T16:43:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T06:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=65068"},"modified":"2025-08-14T16:43:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T06:43:00","slug":"rail-freight-in-hungary-experiences-brutal-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=266756","title":{"rendered":"Rail freight in Hungary experiences \u2018brutal decline\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first quarter of 2025 was not a good time for the Hungarian rail freight sector. The domestic performance dropped by 24.8%, while the international one decreased by 11.9%, in what industry association Hungrail defined as \u201ca brutal decline\u201d.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>\u201cIn the first quarter of this year, the volume of goods transported by rail decreased by 14.2% compared to the same period last year, or nearly 20% in freight tonne-kilometres\u201d, Hungrail said. The decline in volumes did not only affect rail freight, as the entire transport sector lost 6% compared to the same period last year.<\/p>\n

There are two main drivers behind the weak performance of rail freight in Hungary, according to Hungrail. First, costs per gross tonnes-kilometre increased by 13.8% compared to Q1 in 2024. Higher track access charges and more expensive shunting services, together with the adaptation of wages to inflation caused the spike in costs, Hungrail underlined. The second one is the general decline in transport, which combined with an underwhelming development of certain industries, such as batteries, did not contribute to the development of rail freight.<\/p>\n

Total tonnes declined too<\/h2>\n

The data provided by Hungrail comes from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office and is coherent with the ones regarding total tonnes transported by rail recently published by the MBH Analysis Centre. In this category, the sector recorded a 14.2% fall, especially in favour of air freight, which is currently on the rise in Hungary.<\/p>\n