The total rail freight volume in the Netherlands in 2025 amounted to 38.1 million tonnes. This includes imports, exports, domestic and transit traffic and is a 4% (-1.6 million tonnes) decline compared to 2024.

In similar fashion to 2023 and 2024, the volume of coal has shrunk significantly. In 2024, 5 million tonnes of coal were transported on the Dutch rail network. Last year, this number fell by another 30% to 3.5 million tonnes. The huge impact of this trend on the overall volume is clear: the decrease in coal transportation of 1.5 million tonnes covers the vast majority of the total decline of 1.6 million tonnes.

Likewise, the volume of liquid bulk contracted by 0.3 million tonnes (-5%). Breakbulk and dry bulk both fell by around 0.1 million tonnes.

Intermodal stands, but does it stand strong?

By contrast, the intermodal segment has grown slightly, from 17.9 million tonnes in 2024 to 18.2 million tonnes in 2025. That is a cautiously positive development. As rail freight loses volumes in traditional segments, the intermodal sector provides new business opportunities.

However, as ProRail points out, intermodal is not risk-free. It is partially dependent on world trade. The inflow of containers in, for instance, the Port of Rotterdam rises when trade barriers are low and vice versa. Intermodal is also sensitive to supply chain disruptions, such as the inaccessibility of the Suez Canal or container shortages. Lastly, the competitiveness of rail compared with other modes of transport plays an important role in the size of intermodal rail.

A notable development concerns the growing popularity of the “rocktainer ore”: iron ore transported in intermodal loading units. At the same time, ProRail records a decline in ore transportation in conventional loading units, indicating a shift from one type of loading unit to another. The total volume transported in ILUs increased by 4% to 21.7 million tonnes. They now account for a 57% share of the entire rail freight volume.

Single wagonload on the decline

It appears that single wagonload (SWL) operations in the Netherlands are subject to some of the same pressures as elsewhere in Europe. SWL accounts for around half of the decline in the number of freight trains that cross the border with Germany. In total, 2,050 fewer trains crossed the border in 2025 compared to 2024. An important cause of this development is the switch from SWL trains to block trains, says ProRail.

Block trains are cheaper and faster for shippers, who are now choosing to send entire trains less frequently as opposed to a couple of wagons every day. The consequence is that SWL services operate with lower frequencies or are cancelled altogether, the Dutch infrastructure manager explains.

Financial allocation

The agreement also highlights how funds will be deployed to support SWL over the next four years. The 260 million francs will be spread roughly equally throughout the period, with a little over 64 million francs (68,5 million euros) each. The main difference is that five million francs of the funds for 2026 will be used for investments, while all the rest will be allocated for compensation.

What changes?

The new agreement brings in a few requirements for the state-owned operator. “For example, with the new funds, cross-subsidies will no longer be possible”, the FOT specified. In other words, the company will have to reinvest its (possible) profits in the development and modernisation of the SWL segment.

Moreover, SBB Cargo will have to be more transparent. They will have to report quarterly to the FOT, making key parameters on transport performance public on the Office’s website. A semi-annual report will be also published on the development of the SWL offering portfolio. Finally, SBB Cargo will have to keep a detailed financial account on the segment which will be presented yearly to the FOT.

SWL in Switzerland

Despite winning this concession, the situation regarding SWL at SBB Cargo seems to be a rollercoaster ride. On the positive side, the company said it renewed various contracts with shippers (including Migros, Vigier, and Stahl Gerlafingen), some up to ten years. “This means that over 95% of customers will continue to rely on SWL in the long term”, it said. On the other hand, however, the company is planning to close three terminals in Chiasso, Brig and Buchs and firing 40 people. Five more might follow the same fate, costing the job to at least 25 more workers.

The government is reallocating an unspent 18 billion forint (47.1 million euros), which were originally intended to be spent on rail, to road infrastructure investments instead. “Apparently the Hungarian railways are in such good condition that there was no point in spending it”, said Vitézy. The former state secretary lamented the fact that the rail budget was already meagre, but now 90% of that budget is even going to be spent on the road.

Then there is news regarding spending on single wagonload operations. A subsidy amounting to 6.7 billion forint (17.5 million euros) is subject to cancellation. That money supported the modal shift by making the railways more competitive. In turn, points out Vitézy, the scheme also supported the MÁV budget by generating more track access charge income. The subsidy scheme was renewed in September this year, to the delight of the Hungarian rail sector. As it turns out, the sector celebrated too early.

Rail Cargo Hungaria plans business reductions

As a consequence of the Hungarian policy turnaround, the ÖBB Rail Cargo Group subsidiary Rail Cargo Hungaria has already amended its approach to SWL operations in the country. The company’s CFO Csaba Raisz told publication Világgazdaság of some of the changes the operator is implementing.

First off, RCH will no longer accept unprofitable contracts. That will mean cuts to its three million tonne SWL business and translates into a subsequent 10% cut in the company’s network. Customers will be able to load and unload goods in fewer places. “When we cut back the network, unprofitable transports are eliminated, but previously profitable ones can also become unprofitable”, Raisz explained.

Moreover, RCH plans to increase prices to offset the loss of subsidies and reduce its workforce. Some 500 people (out of 1,700) are expected to lose their jobs next year. RCH also plans to shrink its locomotive fleet, retire more wagons and reduce shunting capacity by 10%.

RCH is most probably not the only company that will change its approach to the SWL business in Hungary. Eleven other operators have benefited from the subsidies in the past year.

Single wagonload operations allow companies that do not export enough goods to form a block train to transport their goods by rail. Single wagons, or a small number of wagons, from various companies are combined into trains at shunting yards, from where they depart to the train’s destination.

This type of rail freight operation requires a lot of movements, which leads to high costs and makes it very challenging to run a profit on it.

Rail freight transported 39,3 million tonnes of goods in the Netherlands in 2023, which is around 2% of the total volume of transported goods in the country via all modes of transportation: rail, road, waterways, air and pipelines, according to infrastructure manager ProRail. (Rail freight has a modal share of around 5% to 6% in tonne-kilometres, according to Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis.) Some 15% of the rail volume is moved through SWL operations: approximately 6 million tonnes. That would make for around 0,3% of the total volume of goods transported in the Netherlands in 2023.

In other words, single wagonload only accounts for a tiny fraction of total freight transportation in the country. Despite that, the infrastructure ministry recently announced a 30 million euro investment in shunting operations at the Kijfhoek rail yard, close to Rotterdam.

The investment should help suppress costs, lead to reliable and more sustainable freight flows and support ports and industries. In a policy plan, the Netherlands explains that it wants to change the operating model with a neutral service offering at the Kijfhoek rail yard. That means that infrastructure manager ProRail will take over shunting locomotives from DB Cargo, which is currently the only operator that has them.

The neutral service offering will then periodically be put to the market. That should also improve the accessibility of shunting at Kijfhoek for other companies that offer SWL services, say the Netherlands.

Are the Dutch not reading the room?

The move to support SWL operations at Kijfhoek could be seen as somewhat remarkable. In Germany and Switzerland, recent developments have suggested a move away from SWL because it is not financially viable. As part of its restructuring process, DB Cargo floated the idea of quitting single wagonload altogether. The Swiss SBB Cargo is planning to close three SWL terminals.

Dutch rail freight association RailGood has been opposed to the investment, saying that it primarily allows large companies with foreign shareholders to profit from lower fees and that it is a “waste of taxpayer money”. Why, then, would the Dutch government commit to a multimillion investment in SWL?

The answer is found in a report by infrastructure manager ProRail. It points out that single wagonload operations are crucial for a number of economic sectors, like the steel, chemical and paper industries. It is no wonder that shippers’ association evofenedex has been supportive of the 30 million investment.

A necessity for some industries

The products of the steel, chemical and paper companies are often unsuitable for container-based transport, and cannot move via the road for various reasons. “In particular for long-distance transport, the railways are a secure mode of transportation”, says ProRail. “In some countries, particular groups of chemicals can only be transported by train.”

The availability of SWL services should also improve the business climate in the area of the Port of Rotterdam. “For the abovementioned reasons, SWL has a high (potential) economic value for the Netherlands and can play a role in making both existing and transport flows more sustainable […]”, says ProRail.

In 2022, 130 companies moved their goods by single wagonload transport in the Netherlands. The vast majority of those are in the steel and chemical industries, which add 24 billion and 55 billion euros to the Dutch economy. The SWL investment comes at a moment when eight chemical companies have already left the country in 2025 due to the high costs.

Beyond the Netherlands

The Kijfhoek rail yard offers connections to various industrial zones across the Netherlands, but also to European destinations. Freight flows to and from Germany dominate here (80% of the total international traffic), with around 100,000 wagons being exchanged annually with the Netherlands’ eastern neighbour. Kijfhoek sorts around 175,000 wagons yearly.

Other European countries have seen their single wagonload operations decline, says ProRail, and are therefore resorting to active support measures. France currently has a 450 million euro scheme for first and last-mile operations, and Germany spends 300 million euros in subsidies for SWL. In 2023, Belgium invested 15 million euros as a stimulus package for the Antwerp Noord rail yard.

It seems that the Netherlands has chosen to support SWL, in order to not fall behind European competitors in attracting (rail) freight and to support the modal shift. Despite that, ProRail foresees no spectacular SWL growth in the coming decades. In a best case scenario, with a level playing field between rail and other modes of transport, the Digital Automatic Coupler and Automated Train Operations implemented, a neutral service offering at Kijfhoek and Industrial growth, the maximum SWL volume in 2050 is 9 million tonnes (+50% compared to 2024).

In a worst case scenario, where none of those positive factors come true and the road sector manages to become more sustainable, SWL volumes could be as low as 2,8 million tonnes in 2050.

“Kijfhoek plays a crucial role in the distribution of goods from the ports to industrial zones in the Netherlands and Europe”, Aartsen stated. “With this impulse, we’re making rail freight safer, more efficient and more attractive for companies.”

evofenedex says that SWL is important for Dutch shippers, but that it is under pressure and that there are concerns for its future. “Single wagonload traffic was in danger of disappearing from the Netherlands”, the association says.

Neutral shunting offering

For that reason, evofedenex has been lobbying for investments in SWL. The current investment will prevent a decline in the supply of rail transport services and a reverse modal shift, it says.

Among the plans for Kijfhoek is a neutral shunting offering, which is now in the hands of DB Cargo. Broader accessibility to shunting services should make SWL available to various operators, which will give shippers more options to use rail freight, says evofenedex.

“This decision is good news for shippers that transport smaller volumes via rail”, commented evofenedex policy advisor Geert van Eijk. “With the investment in Kijfhoek, it will remain possible to flexibly and sustainably use the railways, without freight flows being forced onto the road.”

“Kijfhoek plays a crucial role in the distribution of goods from the ports to industrial zones in the Netherlands and Europe”, Aartsen stated. “With this impulse, we’re making rail freight safer, more efficient and more attractive for companies.”

The 30 million euros are drawn from a 79 million euro fund to improve freight transportation in the Netherlands by inducing a modal shift from the road to inland waterways and the railways. In other words, the ministry has decided to use nearly 40% of those funds to help SWL.

Taking traction away from DB Cargo

In the Dutch policy plan “Vision of the Future for Rail Freight 2050”, the government also highlights that the current format of the gravity shunting yard, in which DB Cargo provides locomotive traction, no longer matches the size and projected size of SWL traffic. It wants to change the operating model with a neutral service offering at the site. That means that infrastructure manager ProRail will take over DB Cargo’s shunting locomotives and that the service offering will periodically be put to the market. That should also improve the accessibility of shunting at Kijfhoek for other companies that offer SWL services.

The investment in SWL could be seen as a remarkable decision. Whereas European leaders in SWL traffic Germany and Switzerland seem to be killing it off, the Netherlands is going the other way by giving it a helping hand. The Dutch rail freight association RailGood has responded negatively to the 30 million euro investment, and points to the situation in Germany.

The investment hurts intermodal and block trains

“A waste of Dutch tax payer money”, director Hans-Willem Vroon says on LinkedIn. “Wrong political choice. […] First, the German government injects billions of euros into its own loss-making state company for many years. Then, the European Commission puts an end to it towards 2029, which has hindered a healthy functioning of the market on the railways for years.”

The bottom line, according to RailGood, is that only a few large industries with foreign shareholders will be able to enjoy subsidised transport for a couple of years more. “The continuation of single wagonload transport with state support is unhealthy, not goal-oriented and keeps volumes away from transporters of intermodal and block trains.”

In order to do that, changes need to be made, also in terms of pricing. When it comes to SWL services in Switzerland, rates are rising rapidly, says shippers’ assocation VAP. That is making the single wagonload business uncompetitive with the road, and will push shippers away from rail, the association argues.

The “horrendous price increases” are a thorn in the side of the association, because a new federal law stipulates that the burden should be carried more evenly between the shippers, SBB and the federal government, VAP says.

Moderate price increases

The law in question, the Goods Transport Act, aims to make single wagonload transport self-sustaining by improving operational efficiency at SBB, raising prices for shippers and with hundreds of millions in investments by the Swiss federal government for the coming eight years.

It was a fair arrangement, and the shippers were ready to take on “moderate price increases”, says VAP. However, the association adds that “the reduction of SBB Cargo’s deficit is happening almost exclusively at the expense of shippers” due to the price hikes of the past months. It is somewhat unclear what these increases amount to, Simon Wey from VAP tells RailFreight.com. They differ per company, with some citing increases of over 50%, others are closer to no increase at all, and others in between those extremes.

Destroying freight on purpose?

Wey says that SBB Cargo may be taking the opportunity to raise prices before they no longer can. It is important to note here that the Goods Transport Act, which would help suppress price growth, will only come into force in January. In other words, SBB might have identified a limited time window to charge more for its services.

VAP warns that shippers are left with little incentive to rely on rail freight transport. “Given the high initial investments, these companies are unlikely to ever return to rail in the future, thus permanently dismantling SWL and thus rail freight transport.” More and more VAP members are indicating that they are turning their backs on rail.

However, that might even be SBB’s goal, Wey theorises. “I do not think that politicians have caught on to this yet”, he adds. According to the VAP representative, SBB wants to get rid of the freight department, because it is constantly making a loss of around 80 million Swiss franc (85,5 million euros) on it. By making it uncompetitive, companies will leave the business, dismantle infrastructure, and it will never return, Wey explains. That would help SBB improve its financial situation, albeit at the cost of freight.

SBB’s point of view

SBB sees it differently. “Everyone is playing their part: the Confederation is providing temporary financial support for single wagonload, customers are benefiting from market-based prices and SBB is increasing efficiency and reducing costs”, the operator says in response to RailFreight.com questions, referring to earlier published statements by the company.

Its framework for the future of Swiss rail freight, dubbed “Suisse Cargo Logistics”, should help manage future growth in freight traffic and realign SWL transport. Among other things, that means that the SWL network is going to be adapted to demand, with new terminals opening and others closing down.

“As of the 2026/27 timetable change (13 December 2026) a new production model will enable SWL operations to be simpler, more efficient, more robust and more economical”, SBB explains. “Service points with too little demand will no longer be offered on the SBB Cargo Switzerland SWL network in future.”

Once the anticipated transport volumes for 2026 are in and the customer contracts are known, SBB will plan the new SWL network, the company says. “As things currently stand, the number of service points will be reduced as of the 2026/27 timetable change, assuming the same transport volumes. Despite this reduction, around 98 per cent of wagons can still be transported based on current volumes.”

All in all, rail should have grown its capacity by 60% in 2050 based on the Suisse Cargo Logistics plan. Switzerland is expecting rail freight to grow by a third by that time, SBB says.

Already abandoning rail

The views of Swiss shippers and the rail operator clearly diverge. VAP sees the destruction of SWL happening in real time, and SBB says that it is working on making single wagonload more efficient. Still, Swiss politics have taken note of the cost developments on the rail freight network. A new parliamentary motion wants to tie SBB Cargo’s maximum price increases to inflation.

“Accordingly, SBB Cargo would have to ensure its viability primarily through more productive and efficient operations, as envisioned by Parliament in the Goods Transport Act”, says VAP. “Unfortunately, SBB Cargo has since created a reality: a significant portion of SWL customers have already turned away from rail.”

For the terminals in Buch and Chiasso, the union claimed, it should be relatively simple to find alternative solutions for the workers. However, for the facility in Brig the situation “looks the bleakest”, VSLF underlined, as there is not much availability of alternative jobs within other SBB companies in the area.

SBB Cargo’s restructuring

The restructuring of the Swiss state-owned rail freight operator aims at turning it into a profitable company. After years of losing cash, SBB Cargo decided to cut off some of the loss-making businesses. First it was combined transport, with eight terminals to be closed and 65 jobs to be cut. Now it might be time for single wagonload transport, another historically unprofitable segment.

The beneficiaries of this initiative for this year will be 11 companies more than twice compared to four years ago. The 11 companies are Rail Cargo Hungaria, GYSEV CARGO, CER Hungary, MMV, CD Cargo Hungary, Rail Transport Hungary, Eurogate Rail Hungary, Train Hungary, Kárpát Vasút, Train Europe and LTE Hungária.

The fragility of single wagonload

As Hungrail pointed out, the single wagonload market is not a profitable one, but is vital to guarantee a modal shift. This transport option is vital for companies that cannot fill a full train but still want to opt for rail freight services rather than trucks. Thus, financial aid is indispensable and not only in Hungary.

In Germany, for example, DB Cargo is considering cancelling its single wagonload services. This could have catastrophic consequences on both road traffic, as most of the cargo would be moved by trucks, and on the workforce. DB Cargo giving up on single wagonload might lead to thousands of jobs being lost.

In France, on the other hand, institutions seem more keen on lending a helping hand. An unprecedented investment of 156 million euros will be made to modernise four marshalling yards.

Spool forward to the loveless reality of twenty-first-century railway operations. What might you actually encounter at a level crossing? In the pragmatically monocultural North America, drivers get by with a written “Railroad Crossing” sign. Well, literate drivers anyway. No matter which side of the Atlantic, drivers with any native language will certainly not encounter a steam-hauled wagonload pick-up goods service, crawling between numerous sidings, shuffling wagons individually before moving on to the next stop a few miles (1.6 times a few kilometres) down the line.

The changing landscape

Why has that picture changed – if that picture ever existed at all? Looking around, there are clues. No longer are drivers from Bristol or Berlin, sitting at that level crossing while the air-cooled engine in their VW Beetle slowly overheats. The butcher, baker and candlestick maker shops on the other side of the tracks are now hairdressers, coffee shops and estate agents. As is so often overlooked, it’s not just the railways that have changed in isolation. The rest of the world has moved on too.

If those drivers at the level crossing – now automated, half-barriered, and flashing-lit instead of a signalman unlocking a pair of wooden gates – are heading for the out-of-town supermarket, then you have the reason why wagonload freight is as endangered as full-fat milk and carrying cash.

Europe catches up with Britain’s decline

Cutting to the chase, wagonload traffic across Western Europe is under strong structural pressure. Growth and investment are being concentrated on intermodal and block-train traffic, while traditional wagonload systems are being rationalised, reorganised, or wound down. In Britain, that meant the cessation of the former British Railways Speedlink service in 1991.

It’s taken mainland Europe a long time to catch up (or join the race to the bottom, depending on your point of view). However, in Germany, wagonload is in steep decline. The government-backed Deutsche Bahn has publicly presented reorganisation plans amid industry and political backlash, because DB still handles the lion’s share of German wagonload rail freight.

Road takes the spoils

Germany, like everywhere else – and Britain in particular – is reaping the harvest of surrendering wagonload to alternative means of transport. That almost invariably means truckload. What are – in rail terms – small consignments are just about right for the articulated lorries (semi-trailers) of British motorways, German Autobahn and Italian autostrada. Britain, despite thinking it’s still a big player, remains a small archipelago where the costs of transhipping from road to rail to road just don’t add up for wagonloads.

Truth is, if you’re sitting at that level crossing today, probably in your Wi-Fi-connected electric VW Golf, it’s an intermodal block working that’s speeding by, point-to-point from port to inland terminal. Only on arrival there are repacked shipping containers transferred to waiting trucks for the ‘last mile’ to the final consumer destination. More than likely, it’s the out-of-town supermarket to which you’re so patiently waiting to drive.

Survivors and reinventions

In this block-train and clock-face-timetabled world, could there be a future for wagonload freight? Well, before we get ahead of ourselves, the species is not quite extinct. It’s not even entirely disappeared in Britain – although one has to stretch a point to say, for example, the short-formation nuclear flask trains represent wagonload freight.

Players are attempting to bring small consignments back to the rails. InterCity RailFreight runs under the mainstream radar, carrying high-value packages (usually medical supplies) around on the passenger network. Varamis Rail, a full-fledged operator, has its own trains and carries individual logistics packages between Birmingham and Glasgow. Both are hybrid operations that deserve recognition, even if their description as wagonload may, again, require a little latitude.

Continue to wait – another train may be coming

Still standing at the level crossing. The barriers are down, the lights are flashing, and the road traffic is halted. A train passes. It’s long, fast, and containerised. It is the image of modern rail freight. It’s efficient, consistent, and utterly unlike the stop-start pick-up goods of the past. Thomas the Tank Engine would be feeling a little bit intimidated.

As the last wagon vanishes into the distance, there’s a moment to wonder. The lights are still flashing. Is another train coming? Could it be a modern reincarnation of the wagonload – adapted to today’s economy, powered by digital logistics, and filling the gap between intermodal giants and delivery vans? Perhaps. For now, though, the rails ahead are clear, and the only sound of the future is the distant hum of a motorway autostrada that never sleeps.