RTL Today - Right on track: Luxembourg rail travel soars by 30% in 2023

Luxembourg recorded a 29.9% increase in rail passenger performance in 2023, placing it near the top of EU countries, according to new data from Eurostat.

In 2023, EU rail passenger transport hit its highest level in years, reaching 429 billion combined passenger-kilometres, Eurostat reports on Thursday.

The Grand Duchy marked a 29.9% increase compared to 2022, just behind Croatia (+40.6%). Other EU countries with strong increases were Ireland (+27.9%), Spain (+26.0%), Italy (+18.7%) and Slovenia (+15.1%).

505 million combined passenger kilometres were recorded for 2023 in Luxembourg, up from 389 million in 2022. The number of actual passengers increased by 25%.

Greece, by contrast, decreased by 39.7%, primarily due to the damage of its rail network caused by Storm Daniel in September, which halted train services to northern Greece, and a severe accident on the line between its two biggest cities in 2023.

Germany and France carry the most passengers

In 2023, Germany and France were the largest contributors to rail passenger transport performance in the EU, with around 101 billion passenger kilometres each. Combined, they account for nearly half (47.2%) of the EU's total rail passenger kilometre numbers.

From the perspective of the share between national and international rail transport, national transport is predominant in all countries with more than 90%.

National transport in Luxembourg, however, only marks 63.9% of all transport, evident in its small size and cross-border routes.

Meanwhile, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, and Finland only reported national passenger transport for 2023.

In total, EU countries carried 8 billion passengers in 2023, a 67.9% increase since 2020, however still 3% lower than the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

High per capita rail use

Luxembourg ranks as one of the EU’s leaders in rail passengers per capita, with 30.1 passengers per capita using rail services in 2023.

While cross-border workers contribute to this high figure, the rise in passenger numbers also reflects increased use of free trains by Luxembourg residents.

This figure places Luxembourg among the top countries for rail usage, closely trailing Austria (32.0) and Germany (32.1) and falling just behind the EFTA country Switzerland, where 54.8 passengers per capita used rail services.