Rail travel in the EU rose to 457 billion passenger-kilometres in 2025, up 2.6% from 445 billion in 2024.
Passenger-kilometres measure how far people travel — one passenger travelling one kilometre equals one passenger-kilometre, Eurostat explained in a release on Friday.
The 2025 total was the highest reported by main rail operators since Eurostat’s data collection began in 2004.
Germany recorded the largest number of rail passengers carried in 2025, at 2,954 million, followed by France with 1,312 million and Italy with 844 million.
At the other end of the scale, Lithuania recorded 5 million passengers carried, Estonia 8 million and Greece 14 million.
Luxembourg tops per-person rail use
Luxembourg had the highest number of rail passengers per inhabitant in 2025, at 46.1, followed by Hungary at 35.9 and Denmark at 35.6, Eurostat said.
The lowest ratio was reported in Greece at 1.4 passengers per inhabitant and Lithuania at 1.9, followed by Bulgaria and Romania at 3.3 each.
Hungary recorded the highest number of passenger-kilometres per inhabitant, at 1,692, ahead of France at 1,606 and Austria at 1,588.
Greece recorded 69 passenger-kilometres per inhabitant, while Lithuania had 164 and Bulgaria 226.
