Developments in the relevant markets
German passenger transport
In respect of passenger transport, our objective is to maintain our strong market position in the rail and bus transport market in Germany in the long term.
| Passenger transport market in Germany / % based on volume sold | Growth rate | Market share | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | |
| Motorized individual transport | +1.5 | +1.4 | 83.1 | 83.7 |
| Rail passenger transport | +5.5 | +10.5 | 10.3 | 9.9 |
| DB Group | +2.6 | +8.5 | 7.9 | 7.9 |
| Non-Group railways | +16.4 | +19.2 | 2.3 | 2.1 |
| Public road passenger transport | +6.1 | +6.7 | 6.1 | 5.9 |
| DB Group | +4.0 | +19.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Air transport (domestic) | +2.6 | +20.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Overall market | +2.2 | +2.6 | – | – |
Figures are based on information and estimates available as of January 2025.
German passenger transport recorded an increase in volume sold in 2024 compared to the previous year. Transport policy measures such as the Germany-Ticket promoted such development. Growth varied in the individual market segments:
- Motorized individual transport continued on the path to recovery in 2024. As in the previous year, volume sold continued to rise.
- Domestic air transport in Germany showed slight growth compared to the previous year, however it only achieved just under half the volume sold of 2019 and thus remains well below the pre-Covid-19-level. A reduction in the seating capacity offered by airlines, a decline in business travelers, several waves of strikes and increased location costs are the main drivers of this development.
- Rail passenger transport recorded strong growth in volume sold in 2024. Rail’s market share remained stable.
- Regional rail passenger transport continued to benefit from the Germany-Ticket and made a significant contribution to the positive overall development of the rail sector with above-average growth.
- Long-distance rail passenger transport declined in 2024. Strikes by GDL in the first quarter of 2024, storms in southern Germany and Austria, and construction-related restrictions had a particularly negative impact on volume sold.
- The volume sold of public road passenger transport increased in 2024. The increase affected both DB Group and non-Group providers. Positive effects resulted primarily from the Germany-Ticket. The recovery in demand for public road passenger transport continued to be held back by the loss of commuting journeys due to the ongoing use of mobile working.
- Long-distance bus transport stagnated in 2024. This was the result of a significant increase in the services offered by long-distance bus providers, some of which were still limited in the previous year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the expansion of services offered by FlixBus in particular.
German freight transport
| Freight transport market in Germany / % based on volume sold | Growth rate | Market share | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | |
| Rail freight transport | +1.3 | –6.9 | 20.1 | 19.9 |
| DB Group | –8.6 | –11.7 | 7.7 | 8.0 |
| Non-Group railways | +8.7 | –2.9 | 12.3 | 12.0 |
| Road freight traffic | +0.1 | –4.5 | 70.9 | 71.3 |
| Inland waterways | +4.4 | –5.9 | 6.4 | 6.2 |
| Long-distance pipelines | +6.3 | –2.3 | 2.7 | 2.6 |
| Overall market | +0.8 | –5.0 | – | – |
Figures are based on information and estimates available as of March 2025.
Volume sold in rail freight transport according to the Destatis definition of transport services that are primary freight carriers.
Volume sold of the German freight transport market stagnated in 2024. Industrial production was of a historically low level, with several core sectors of German industry performing particularly weakly. The chemical, automotive and steel industries are in the process of transforming towards climate neutrality. Some energy-intensive sectors such as chemicals have recovered somewhat as a result of slightly lower energy prices in 2024. The automotive industry was impacted by a drop in demand for vehicles and increased competitive pressure from China. Steel production also remained at a low level. Demand for transport fell accordingly. There were also a number of developments in the freight transport industry itself that had a negative impact. This includes in particular the lack of qualified and increasingly even unqualified personnel. However, the switch to alternative drives is also associated with high costs that cannot be passed on in full to customers.
Volume sold in German rail freight transport recorded moderate growth in 2024 as a catch-up effect compared to the previous year, particularly in the second quarter. It remained above the previous year’s level for the rest of the year. The recovery in transport demand in the chemicals sector, particularly in the areas of basic chemicals and fertilizer, had a positive effect. The strong development in combined transport also continued the upward trend and compensated for the declining demand for iron, coal and steel (montan) transport – particularly for coal and stone – as well as the weak demand for transport in the automotive and consumer goods sectors.
In 2024, the market share of rail freight transport increased slightly. DB Group railways performed negatively, which meant that non-Group railways gained additional market share.
The road freight market remained stable in 2024. E-commerce had a stimulating effect, while the continued low demand in the construction sector had a negative impact. Following declines in the two previous years, road freight traffic subject to tolls grew slightly in Germany. Contrary to the trend of recent years, in 2024 the toll kilometers of trucks registered in Germany increased. The significant increase in truck tolls due to the introduction of a CO₂ surcharge and the extension of the truck toll to natural gas-powered vehicles and all vehicles with a technically permissible total weight of more than 3.5 t had a negative impact on transport companies in 2024. The market share of road freight traffic in 2024 was roughly the same as the previous year’s level.
After significant declines in performance in recent years, inland waterway transport was able to benefit from the positive catch-up effects in 2024. A recovery in demand for the transport of iron ore and coke – two key goods for the inland waterway transport industry – as well as grain and waste transport had a partially compensating effect. Chemical production also contributed to the stabilization. By contrast, demand for coal transport continued to decline significantly and also fell by more than a third in 2024 compared to the previous year. Overall, the downward trend that has been ongoing for a decade continued. Despite the recovery, the market share of inland waterway transport remained at a low level in 2024, as in the previous year.
European rail freight transport
Volume sold in European rail freight transport (EU 27, Switzerland, Norway and the United Kingdom) also fell slightly in 2024 following the significant decline in 2023. The European rail freight transport market was negatively impacted by the persistently weak economic environment and high costs. Despite a slightly positive trend in combined transport from the second quarter onwards, the weak development of the sectors predisposed to rail transport resulted in a slight decline during the year as a whole. DB Cargo was unable to escape this negative market environment. Volume sold also declined in line with the market trend.
| European freight transport markets / % | Growth rate | |
| 2024 | 2023 | |
| European rail freight transport (based on tkm) | –1.3 | –6.8 |
Figures are based on information and estimates available as of January 2025.
Track infrastructure in Germany
With its integrated structure, DB Group assumes dual responsibility for rail as a mode of transport in Germany: DB Group is both the operator and primary user of the track infrastructure. The associated greater focus on customers and efficiency in our infrastructure benefits all those who have access, especially the train operating companies (TOCs), without discrimination. In addition to statutory unbundling rules and the DB Group internal code of conduct, the implementation into national law, in some cases beyond the requirements of EU law compared to other European countries, and the intensive regulatory practice of the BNetzA ensure the independence and competitive neutrality of the track infrastructure.
| DB track infrastructure selected key figures / in Germany | 2024 | 2023 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| absolute | % | |||
| Infrastructure customers | 460 | 464 | –4 | –0.9 |
| Intra-Group railways | 17 | 17 | – | – |
| Non-Group railways | 443 | 447 | –4 | –0.9 |
| Train-path demand (million train-path km) | 1,103 | 1,117 | –15 | –1.3 |
| Intra-Group railways | 654.1 | 679.7 | –25.6 | –3.8 |
| Non-Group railways | 448.8 | 437.7 | +11.1 | +2.5 |
| Share of non-Group railways (%) | 40.7 | 39.2 | +1.5 | +3.8 |
| Station stops (million) | 160.1 | 159.6 | +0.5 | +0.3 |
| Intra-Group railways | 110.8 | 111.8 | –1.0 | –0.9 |
| Non-Group railways | 49.3 | 47.8 | +1.5 | +3.1 |
Individual figures are rounded and thus may not add up.
Figures include Usedomer Bäderbahn (UBB). UBB is not part of DB InfraGO.
- Train-path demand fell in 2024. Impairments resulted from one-off events (strikes and severe weather conditions), construction-related closures (e.g. as part of the general modernization of the Riedbahn) and economic declines in rail freight transport. On the other hand, the increase in demand for regional rail passenger transport had a positive effect.
- The number of station stops increased slightly in 2024, despite a continuing high level of construction activity and weather-related influences (e.g. storm Radha). Rental revenues in the stations in 2024 were above the previous year’s level.