Schienen-Control 2025: Record Service Levels in Passenger Transport – ÖBB’s Competitors in Freight Transport Are Approaching the 50 Percent Mark

Schienen-Control 2025 Annual Report Schienen-Control a mixed picture of the Austrian rail market. Passenger service reached a new record level of 138.9 million passenger-train-kilometers in terms of capacity offered, while passenger numbers declined slightly. In freight transport, rail carriers outside the ÖBB Group continued to expand their market share, approaching the 50 percent mark.

The increases in freight traffic performance indicators are largely due to rerouting and only partially reflect market growth. Extensive construction work on international corridors, as well as the closure of the Tauern Railway, have hampered the rail sector’s capacity and competitiveness.

Record service—but a slight decline in ridership

Total passenger service volume reached another record high of 138.9 million passenger-train-kilometers. However, the number of passengers declined slightly by 0.3 percent to 347.5 million—due to the two-month summer closure of the Vienna S-Bahn main line. In long-distance service, on the other hand, passenger numbers rose by one percent. As a result, the total number of passenger-kilometers traveled rose by 0.7 percent to 15.1 billion. ÖBB’s competitors continued to expand their market share, carrying just under 16 percent of all passengers. A significant development was the full opening of the Koralm line in December 2025, although its full impact on passenger numbers is not expected until 2026.

ÖBB's competitors are approaching the 50 percent mark in freight transport

Rail Cargo Austria’s market share in terms of net ton-kilometers stood at around 52 percent in 2025—a further decline from the previous year (2024: 57.3 percent). The combined market share of all ÖBB competitors thus already stood at around 48 percent, and in the block train segment, it was as high as 63.5 percent. On the main transit routes—the Brenner and the Western Axis—ÖBB competitors dominated, each with a share of over 60 percent. Performance in terms of net and gross metric ton-kilometers rose by just under five percent—though this was largely due to rerouting. Net metric tons transported, at 117.6 million, recorded their second consecutive increase—but remained just below the 2022 figure.

Construction sites are slowing down the economic recovery

“Competition in the rail sector is working, but it needs available capacity,” said Maria-Theresia Röhsler, managing director of Schienen-Control. “Competitors now serve nearly half of the freight transport market. The increases in transport volume are largely due to rerouting and not to actual growth. If rail freight transport is to remain competitive, we urgently need better predictability in train path allocation and Europe-wide coordination of construction projects.”

The higher costs resulting from long-distance detours and longer travel distances due to extensive renovations on the German rail network, as well as the closure of the Tauern Railway, are intensifying the pressure to shift freight to the roads. In 2025, more than a quarter of total freight transport volume was carried out using ad hoc train paths booked at short notice—and for private competitors, the figure was even over 40 percent. The EU Capacity Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2026/1184), which recently entered into force, is intended to address this issue and improve cross-border coordination of infrastructure work.

A Growing Market – 98 Railroad Companies in Austria

At the end of 2025, 98 rail operators in Austria were authorized to operate trains—eleven more than the previous year. With 74 companies, the number authorized to use the ÖBB network was higher than ever before. The Austrian rail network grew by 17 kilometers to a total of 5,638 kilometers, largely due to the full opening of the Koralm line between Graz and Klagenfurt.

The full annual report is available under "Publications" and contains further information on the passenger and freight transport markets, price trends, on-time performance, and the procedures of Schienen-Control .