Rail transport in Romania recorded a broad-based slowdown in the first nine months of 2025, with both passenger numbers and freight volumes declining compared to the same period last year, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
Between January and September 2025, 48.99 million passengers traveled by train, down 8.8% year-on-year. Over the same period, total passenger-kilometers fell by 9.8%, indicating not only fewer travelers but also shorter average journeys.
Freight transport also under pressure
Rail freight activity followed a similar downward trend. Total freight volumes declined by 8.4% year-on-year, with 30.11 million tonnes of goods transported during the first nine months of the year. Of this total, 79.3% was domestic transport.
In terms of cargo composition, the largest shares of transported goods were recorded for refined petroleum products (26%), coal and lignite; crude oil and natural gas (17.7%). Measured by freight-kilometers refined petroleum products accounted for 35.2% of total rail freight distance, followed by agricultural, forestry and fishing products, which represented 13%.
Mixed performance in operational efficiency
Despite weaker traffic figures, several technical and economic indicators showed improvement compared to the same period in 2024. Among the positive developments:
Average turnaround time for freight wagons increased by 15.7%;
Average commercial speed of freight trains rose by 1.7%;
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