National Transport within Germany

National transport services are based on the de.NETdirekt+ block train system, which links 15 German terminals together and also offers gateway connections for onward international transport. In the 2024 financial year National Transport recorded a drop of 3.0 per cent to 181,157 consignments, a disproportionately smaller fall compared with the change in total volumes.

Southern Europe

In 2024 Kombiverkehr transported a total of 294,879 consignments on block trains between Germany and Italy via Switzerland or Austria and in bilateral Germany – Switzerland transport services. This equates to a decline of 6.9 per cent on the previous year. Southern Europe remains the busiest Kombiverkehr transport segment, making up roughly 38 per cent of the total volume.

The Brenner Pass corridor accounted for 215,654 consignments, a drop of 1.5 per cent. Transport on the corridor via Switzerland amounted to 51,527 consignments, 27.0 per cent below the figure for the previous year. This can be attributed in part to the reduction in departures on the Cologne – Eifeltor – Busto v.v. route.

Benelux

The number of transports in Benelux services in 2024 bucked the general trend with an increase of 0.9 per cent on the volume for 2023. In total, 97,841 consignments were shipped on trains serving these routes.

Western Europe

Kombiverkehr also managed to increase volumes in unaccompanied Combined Transport between Germany and France and between Germany and Spain, which rose 12.8 per cent to 47,689 consignments. This rise was primarily caused by the elimination of the special effect of the general strike in France, which had led to the cancellation of many departures to western Europe in 2023.

Central and Eastern Europe

In the last financial year the amount transported between Germany and countries in central and eastern Europe fell by 17.5 per cent to 41,750 consignments. The suspension of the Neuss – Wels v.v. route and falling consignment volumes to and from Trieste via Tauern accounted for a significant proportion of the fall.

Northern Europe and Baltic states

At 106,417 consignments, transport to Scandinavia via the Baltic Sea ports and the fixed link was Kombiverkehr’s second-busiest international segment again in the 2024 financial year. The year-on-year drop in volume on this axis came to 12.8 per cent and was attributable in part to the fact that weak market demand led to the suspension of the Hamburg – Taulov v.v. and Coevorden – Malmö v.v. services.