TRIESTE – European intermodal rail transport closed 2025 with almost 3.9 million consignments, recording overall growth of 1.48% compared with the previous year.
Gross tonnes transported reached 81 million, up 3.72%, while performance in tonne-kilometres increased by 2.2%. These are the main figures from the annual report “UIRR 2025-26: Time to Combine”, published by the International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport.
The driver of growth was the French domestic market, which rose by 7.1% thanks to new infrastructure and new services. Cross-border traffic, by contrast, lost ground across the continent, falling by 1.13%. Germany saw a one-fifth reduction in its overall intermodal volume during 2025. According to the report, this negative trend will continue in the current year. The cause is the restructuring and modernisation plan for German corridors, which is increasing costs for operators by as much as 30%.
Volumes on the Germany-Poland axis more than halved, collapsing by 66%. The Germany-Hungary route lost 38%. The Germany-Italy route recorded an 11% decline, equal to around 58,000 fewer consignments in the space of a year.
The situation directly affects north-eastern Italy and the Alpine crossing: trains that would normally transit via the Brenner are being rerouted through Tarvisio, adding 500 kilometres and at least 12 hours of additional delay for each train.
Michail Stahlhut, CEO of Hupac and UIRR president until the end of 2025, spoke of concrete risks to the survival of the intermodal model and of the shortage of alternative routes.
