Corona crisis led to 5 percent less rail freight in the Netherlands last year

Corona crisis led to 5 percent less rail freight in the Netherlands last year

Rail freight traffic to, from, within and through the Netherlands decreased by about five percent in 2020.

The year saw a strong decline due to corona in the second quarter, after a relatively good first quarter. A strong recovery is visible in the last quarter. These figures were presented by ProRail, the infrastructure manager of the Dutch railways, in its annual report.

The 5 percent refers to the tonne-kilometres, or the volume in tonnes moved per 1 kilometre. In 2020 this amounted to 13.6 billion tonne/kilometres.

The Harbour Line accounted for 2.1 billion tonne-kilometres, (a decrease of 7 percent), the Betuwe Line for 4.1 billion tonne-kilometres, (a decrease of 3 percent) and the combined network for 7.4 billion tonne-kilometres (a decrease of 5 percent).

ProRail is generally positive about the figures: “Rail freight has thus proven to be a ‘corona-proof’ mode of transport. Countries closed borders to road traffic or introduced stricter controls. This led to long traffic jams for road transport, while freight trains ran from one country to another without any significant delay.

“During the lockdown in several countries, there was also enough room for freight trains on the track. This was a consequence of the decrease in the number of passenger trains.”

For more information visit www.prorail.nl

22nd February 2021