2025 was a year full of challenges for freight rail in Poland
The year 2025 saw a huge increase in interest in rail travel. A total of almost 439 million passengers used rail services – the highest figure in 30 years. On the other hand, the freight sector, with just under 217.8 million tonnes of cargo transported, recorded its lowest result since at least 2012.
The downward trend in rail freight transport continued in 2025. The railways transported almost 217.8 million tonnes of cargo, which represents a decrease of 5.7 million tonnes (-2.6%) compared to 2024. This is the lowest result since at least 2012, illustrating the scale of the challenges facing the industry.
Year-on-year declines also affected other operating parameters:
- transport performance – over 56.2 billion tonne-kilometres (2 billion less; -3.5%);
- operating performance – over 79.2 million train-kilometres (a decrease of 2.9 million; -3.5%).
In 2025, the average distance travelled per tonne of cargo was over 258 km, compared to almost 261 km in 2024.
“Starting from September 2025, we can speak of cautious optimism – for the first time since the beginning of the year, an increase in basic freight transport indicators has been recorded. This gives hope that the freight sector will gradually adapt to the new market realities. The transport of construction materials, aggregates, secondary raw materials and municipal waste is becoming increasingly important. Intermodal transport maintains a stable position, confirming its role as an important element of modern logistics chains, with an increase in volumes in the first three quarters of 2025,” comments Dr Ignacy Góra, President of UTK.
In December 2025, the weight of goods amounted to almost 17.9 million tonnes, which represents a decrease of almost 0.2 million tonnes (-1%) year-on-year. However, an increase was recorded in other operating data. Transport performance, at nearly 4.6 billion tonne-kilometres, was higher by over 95.7 million tonne-kilometres (+2.1%) than in December 2024. Operating performance exceeded 6.4 million train-kilometres, which is 0.01 million train-kilometres (+0.2%) higher than in December 2024.
The average distance travelled per tonne of cargo in December 2025 was almost 257 km, which is almost 8 km more than a year earlier.
Compared to November 2025, in December:
- almost 1.1 million tonnes less freight was transported (-5.7%),
- transport performance was lower by over 0.3 billion tonne-kilometres (-6.4%),
- operational work decreased by over 0.4 million train-kilometres (-6.5%).
The average distance travelled per tonne of freight was almost 1.8 km shorter than in November 2025.