REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2018/643 on rail transport statistics
Date: 2025-03-24
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EU statistics, data collection, rail transport, transport statistics

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 24.3.2025  COM(2025) 116 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2018/643 on rail transport statistics  
 
 
1.  

INTRODUCTION 

1.1  

AIM OF THE REPORT 

Article  9  of  Regulation  (EU)  2018/643  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of 
18 April 2018  on  rail  transport  statistics1  stipulates  that,  after  consulting  the  European 
Statistical  System  Committee,  the  Commission  must  submit  a  report  to  the  European 
Parliament  and  to  the  Council  on  the  implementation  of  that  Regulation  and  on  future 
developments  by 31 December 2020 and  then every 4 years. This  is  the  second report  that 
meets that requirement2. 

The  first  section  of  this  report  explains  the  background,  policy  context,  data  usage  and 
coverage of the Regulation. The second section describes its implementation by the Member 
States and the Commission (Eurostat), the burden and costs for Member States in terms of 
data collection, methodological and data quality issues, and the various means for publishing 
rail  transport  statistics.  The  last  two  sections  refer  to  possible  future  developments  in  rail 
transport statistics and set out the report’s main conclusions. 

 1.2  

BACKGROUND TO THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK 

Regulation (EC) No 91/2003 was designed to provide the Commission, other EU institutions, 
national governments and the general public with comparable, reliable, harmonised, regular 
and comprehensive statistical data on the rail transport of freight and passengers. 

The  amendments  introduced  in  2016  by  Regulation  (EU)  2016/2032  sought  to  update  and 
simplify the original act (and therefore reduce the burden for Member States). They also aimed 
to optimise the existing legal framework for European statistics on rail transport and to bring 
it into line with the Lisbon Treaty. 

1.3  

  POLICY CONTEXT AND DATA USAGE 

Developing a common transport policy in the EU requires in-depth knowledge of the extent 
of rail transport and how it has evolved.  

The  European  Green  Deal3 is  a  growth  strategy  that  aims  to  make  the  EU’s  economy 
sustainable by converting climate and environmental challenges into opportunities across all 
policy  areas  and  by  making  the  transition  just  and  inclusive  for  all.  In  2022,  the  transport 
sector (including international bunkers) accounted for around 28.9% of the EU’s greenhouse 
gas emissions. To achieve climate neutrality, a 90% reduction in transport emissions is needed 
by 2050. Rail freight transport is the sustainable logistical backbone of the economy and rail 
transport significantly contributes towards achieving the climate targets in line with economic 
growth and the growth of the transport sector. 

1 OJ L 112, 2.5.2018, p. 1. ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/643/oj  
2 The first report was adopted on 18 December 2020 (COM(2020) 838 final). 
3 COM(2019) 640 final. 

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In  December  2020,  the  Commission  also  presented  the  ‘Sustainable  and  smart  mobility 
strategy – putting European transport on track for the future’4, which outlines the intended 
steps towards transforming the EU transport system in line with the European Green Deal’s 
ambitions.  The  mobility  strategy  pursues  the  vision  of  sustainable,  affordable,  inclusive, 
smart, resilient and competitive mobility, and requires a fundamental transformation of the 
transport sector. One of the approaches of the mobility strategy is to increase the use of less-
polluting modes and to shift a substantial proportion of the inland freight currently carried by 
road (75%) onto rail and inland waterways. One of the Commission's 2024-2029 priorities in 
the area of transport is to put forward a plan for an ambitious European high-speed rail network 
to  help  connect  EU  capitals,  including  through  night  trains,  and  to  accelerate  rail  freight 
transport. 

Over the last 25 years, the Commission has  actively been proposing that the European rail 
transport sector be restructured in order to strengthen rail’s position in relation to other modes 
of transport. The Commission’s efforts have focused on three major objectives, all of which 
are key to the development of a strong and competitive rail transport industry: 

•  to open up the rail transport market to competition; 

•  to increase the interoperability and safety of national networks; 

•  to develop rail transport infrastructure. 

The  data  collected  under  Regulation (EU) 2018/643  play  an  important  role  in  the  EU’s 
decision-making  and  in  the  design  and  monitoring  of  EU  policies.  The  results  of  the  data 
collection are crucial when it comes to monitoring the EU’s rail market and are regularly used 
as  a  reference  in  Commission  communications,  staff  working  documents  and  impact 
assessments. In-depth knowledge of the market helps to increase the competitiveness of the 
sector’s companies. The Regulation produces statistics that can also be used in assessing the 
potential for shifting freight transport from road to rail.  

Furthermore, the Member States have noted that the data collected under the Regulation are 
needed at national level in order to: 

•  observe  the  evolution  of  rail  transport  activity  through  short-term  monitoring  (using 

quarterly data) and through long-term monitoring (using yearly data); 

•  conduct national trend analyses and run benchmarks with other countries; 

•  monitor how railways’ share of overall European transport is evolving compared to other 

modes (modal split). 

In this context, the Member States have indicated that the data are used by:  

•  national authorities;  

•  universities, research institutions and modellers; 

•  economic institutions;  

• 

the railway industry for analysis and planning;  

4 COM(2020) 789 final. 

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• 

international  organisations  such  as  the  International  Transport  Forum  and  the  United 
Nations Economic Commission for Europe;  

•  policymakers at national level for planning, target monitoring and decision-making. 

1.4  

COVERAGE OF MEMBER STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES 

Regulation (EU) 2018/643 applies directly and fully to all Member States, which are required 
to provide the data it stipulates. Only Malta and Cyprus, which do not have rail infrastructure 
and therefore no rail transport activity, are not required to implement the Regulation. 

Data on rail transport are also provided by three European Free Trade Area (EFTA) countries 
- Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Five candidate countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye) provide data on a voluntary basis. In June 
2024, for the first time, Ukraine sent one dataset on total rail freight and total rail passenger 
transport  for  reference  year  2021. Albania,  Georgia,  Kosovo*  and  Moldova  are  currently 
assessing the availability of data and how they will best meet the requirements of Regulation 
(EU) 2018/643.  

(iv) 

In line with Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2018/643, countries send Eurostat:  
(i) 
detailed annual statistics on freight and passenger transport;  
(ii) 
quarterly statistics on freight and passenger transport;  
regional statistics on freight and passenger transport at NUTS5 level 2 (every 5 years, 
(iii) 
for a reference period of 1 year);  
statistics on traffic flows on the rail network (every 5 years for a reference period of 
1 year); 
less-detailed  annual  statistics  on  the  freight  and  passenger  transport  activity  of  rail 
undertakings  with  a  total  freight  transport  volume  of  less  than  200  million  tonne-
kilometres  and  less  than  500 000  tonnes,  and  undertakings  with  a  total  passenger 
transport volume of less than 100 million passenger-kilometres. 

(v) 

2.  

FOLLOW-UP OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGULATION 

2.1  

COMPLIANCE WITH LEGAL OBLIGATIONS 

There  is  a  high  degree  of  compliance  with  the  obligations  laid  down  in  Regulation  (EU) 
2018/643 on the provision of data, with all Member States regularly delivering the requested 
datasets within the deadlines set. Short delays may sometimes occur due to changes at national 
level (e.g. IT changes or changes in the rail market). However, these delays have never had an 
impact on the production of rail transport statistics. Countries follow the agreed methodology, 
ensuring  that  high-quality  and  reliable  statistics  on  rail  freight  and  passenger  transport  in 
Europe are produced. 

To  prevent  the  direct  or  indirect  disclosure  of  information  concerning  individual  rail 
undertakings, several Member States mark the rail data they send as confidential. In the latest 

 This designation does not affect positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244(1999) and the ICJ 
Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence. 
5 Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on the establishment of a 
common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS): http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2003/1059/oj   

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data  collections,  the  annual  detailed  rail  passenger  data  transmitted  by  Belgium,  France, 
Hungary, Poland and Netherlands were treated as confidential or partially confidential, while 
for Belgium, Poland and Sweden, the annual detailed rail freight data were reported entirely 
or partially as confidential. A higher confidentiality rate is observed in the five-yearly regional 
(NUTS  level  2)  data  collection.  In  cases  of  confidential  data,  Eurostat  applies  rules  and 
measures to prevent its disclosure.  

2.2  

DATA COLLECTION METHODS USED IN MEMBER STATES 

Rail undertakings collect data  according to the methods adopted by each country and send 
them  to  the  national  authorities,  which  are  responsible  for  processing  the  data.  Eurostat’s 
Reference  Manual  on  Rail  transport  statistics6  includes  a  chapter  dedicated  to  national 
methodologies with a subchapter on data compilation and quality management. 

A 2021 Eurostat study on foreign undertakings operating on domestic rail networks found that 
some countries encounter difficulties in obtaining data from those undertakings, as a reporting 
obligation cannot be imposed on them. The study recommended certain measures to overcome 
these obstacles. 

2.3  

ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN AND COSTS FOR MEMBER STATES 

Regulation (EU) 2018/643 is designed to keep the burden on Member States to a minimum. 
Most Member States do not have to take extra measures because their existing processes are 
suitably developed to meet the Regulation’s data collection requirements.  

According to the information in the national metadata complementing the rail transport data, 
most reporting countries consider the workload involved in data provision to be acceptable. 
In most of the reporting countries the response burden is mainly borne by railway undertakings 
or operators and is kept to a minimum. Respondents are able to transmit the required data via 
a data interface or by email. Respondents are only contacted if plausibility errors cannot be 
resolved  by  national  statistical  authorities.  Countries  that  are  able  to  quantify  the  cost  and 
burden  of  their  rail  data  collection  report  significant  disparities.  These  cost  and  burden 
differences depend on the number of undertakings and the volume of data collected, which 
varies from country to country, as well as national data compilation systems. In some cases, 
the number of rail undertakings responding has increased since the Regulation came into force, 
with a corresponding impact on the associated costs and burden. However, the Regulation has 
established  thresholds  on  the  magnitude  of  transport  activity  to  limit  the  reporting  burden 
while maintaining the quality of statistics. Nevertheless, countries consider the rail transport 
data to be of significant value and the benefit of the resulting statistics to outweigh the burden 
and cost for respondents and statistical offices. 

Reducing administrative burden and simplification  

6 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/29567/3217334/Rail_Reference_Manual_Ver+11.pdf/bd5bf79a-
b6d3-be9e-ceb5-779a36cc0a7c?t=1698140752878 (Available only in English).  

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Reducing  administrative  burden  is  one  of  the  Commission’s  ongoing  objectives.  In 
cooperation  with  national  statistical  authorities,  Eurostat  has  been  implementing  specific 
actions to reduce the national burden of data collection and reporting. These actions include:  

1. The development of tools, such as the Eurostat geo-viewer, to facilitate the reporting of 
regional data at NUTS level 2. The Eurostat geo-viewer has a search function that facilitates 
the search for NUTS codes. Reporting countries can enter the name of a railway station, or of 
a departure/arrival point, and the geo-viewer provides the appropriate NUTS code. Eurostat 
can also produce a list of all railway stations with the corresponding NUTS codes. 

2. Newly developed validation tools, which allow reporting countries to validate their data 
before they officially transmit them to Eurostat (pre-validation) and to receive feedback on 
errors for each specific dataset. 

3. Regular meetings of experts from Member States, EFTA countries, candidate countries and 
potential candidates in the Commission’s Expert group on rail transport statistics to exchange 
good practices in the collection and processing of rail transport data. 

A consultation of the Member States in June 2024 indicated that the framework defined by 
Regulation  (EU)  2018/643  is  sufficient  to  accommodate  user  needs  without  imposing  an 
excessive burden on respondents. 

2.4  

VALIDATION AND QUALITY CHECKS OF DATA RECEIVED  

Data collection and transmission is the responsibility of the Member States, but Eurostat takes 
all necessary measures to ensure high-quality statistics and detect any errors or implausibilities 
in the data received. Since 2023, Eurostat has implemented a sophisticated IT system for data 
management  with  two  improved  components:  new  data  validation  tools;  and  powerful 
software  (Statistical  Analysis  Systems  -  SAS)  for  the  processing,  quality  check  and 
publication of rail transport data. 

Reporting countries transmit datasets to Eurostat via the EDAMIS portal using a structure that 
is compatible with the SDMX (Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange) standard. A robust 
two-step validation process is then applied to the datasets received: 

•  Firstly, the STRUVAL (STRUctural VALidation) tool validates each dataset in terms of 
format, completeness of mandatory fields and correctness of structure and codes used. 

•  Secondly, the CONVAL (CONtent VALidation) tool validates the content of each dataset 
on  the  basis  of  predefined  rules  and  thresholds.  Reporting  countries  receive  a  detailed 
validation  report  for  each  dataset  transmitted  which  make  it  easy  to  correct  any  errors. 
Eurostat is constantly updating the validation rules applied in order to meet evolving needs 
and ensure that high-quality statistics are produced. 

Overall,  the  quality  of  the  data  transmitted  is  very  good.  However,  all  reporting  countries 
revise their data if errors are detected by the STRUVAL and CONVAL validation tools. 

As a next step, Eurostat checks the time-series consistency and inter-dataset consistency of 
quarterly and annual rail transport data. If none of those data checks detect any problems, or 

5 

 
once countries have revised their datasets or explained any inconsistencies, the data are stored 
for further processing and publication in Eurostat’s online database. 

2.5   METHODOLOGICAL SUPPORT FOR MEMBER STATES 

Eurostat provides reporting countries with constant support on implementing Regulation (EU) 
2018/643, the rail transport data requested and the appropriate methodology for compiling it. 

Meetings  of  the  Expert  group  on  rail  transport  statistics  provide  Member  States,  EFTA 
countries,  candidate  countries  and  potential  candidates  with  an  opportunity  to  discuss  data 
quality, methodological issues and new projects. Implementation of the Regulation is also a 
regular agenda item at the annual meetings of the coordinating group for statistics on transport. 

The Reference manual on rail transport statistics provides reporting countries with detailed 
guidance on the implementation of the Regulation. The reference manual is regularly updated 
(usually  on  an  annual  basis)  to  include  the  most  recent  information,  documentation  and 
guidelines relevant to the collection of rail transport statistics. 

In 2019, in close cooperation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and 
the International Transport Forum, Eurostat co-published the fifth edition of the Glossary for 
transport statistics7, which includes an updated and improved section on rail transport. The 
glossary aims to standardise definitions of transport statistics at European and international 
level. The three organisations plan a major update of the glossary. A new version is scheduled 
to be published in 2025. 

2.6  

DATA DISSEMINATION 

Eurostat’s online database 

Eurostat  releases  the  data  collected  under  Regulation  (EU)  2018/643  through  its  online 
database,  which  is  freely  accessible  via  the  Eurostat  website.  There  are  26  tables  on  rail 
transport, which are updated regularly and complemented by detailed European and national 
metadata files.  

Every 5 years, Eurostat updates two datasets with regional statistics (NUTS level 2) on freight 
and passenger transport (Annex IV to the Regulation); and creates around 28 datasets (one per 
reporting country) on traffic flows on the rail network (Annex V to the Regulation). The latest 
reference year available for these statistics is 2020. 

Dissemination products  

Eurostat produces two Statistics Explained articles on rail transport that provide the media and 
public  with  an  overview  of  the  most  important  developments  and  an  analysis  of  the  data 
collected under Regulation (EU) 2018/643:  

•  Railway freight transport statistics8   

7 https://www.doi.org/10.2785/675927 (Available in English, French and German). 
8 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Railway_freight_transport_statistics (Available only in 
English). 

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•  Railway passenger transport statistics - quarterly and annual data9. 

These articles are updated annually as soon as the data collection for a given reference year 
is finalised.  

Other means of dissemination  

Data  on  rail  transport  are  also  disseminated  via  tailor-made  data  extractions  for  users  in 
Eurostat’s news articles (e.g. Rail freight transport slightly down in 202210) and other Eurostat 
publications, such as Key figures on European transport11, Key figures on Europe12, and the 
Eurostat regional  yearbook13.  The  data  are  also  disseminated  in  the  publications  of  other 
Commission directorates-general, in particular those of the Directorate-General for Mobility 
and Transport (e.g. in their Statistical pocketbook14), and in the publications of the European 
Union  Agency  for  Railways  (ERA).  All  data  included  in  tailor-made  extractions  and 
publications are also published in Eurostat’s online database.  

Rail transport data are also included in the Sustainable Development Monitoring Report15 that 
monitors progress in the EU policy objective of shifting freight from road to rail and inland 
waterways.  That  report  analyses  the  share  of  rail  and  inland  waterways  as  a  proportion  of 
inland freight transport in tonne-kilometres in terms of short-term development and long-term 
development.  Another  main  indicator  in  this  publication  is  the  short-term  and  long-term 
development of the share of buses and trains as a proportion of inland passenger transport. 

3.  

  FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF RAIL TRANSPORT STATISTICS 

The  European  Green  Deal  has  presented  a  set  of  transformative  policies  across  economic 
sectors,  including  transport.  Rail  freight  and  passenger  transport  statistics  can  help  in  the 
setting and monitoring of policy targets by providing data on volumes of freight transported, 
numbers  of  passengers,  kilometres  travelled,  and  equipment  and  infrastructure.  That 
information is mainly gathered under Regulation (EU) 2018/643 and partly via voluntary data 
collection – the Eurostat/ITF/UNECE Common Questionnaire on inland transport statistics. 

In  some  countries,  data  confidentiality  limits  the  potential  for  publishing  all  data  collected 
under Regulation (EU) 2018/643 and some EU aggregates. Eurostat and the Member States 
constantly discuss how the constraints imposed by data confidentiality can be alleviated. 

To achieve wider coverage of rail transport statistics, Eurostat has signed an administrative 
agreement with ERA to receive and publish data on: 

• 

the  length  of  lines  and  tracks  equipped  with  the  European  railway  traffic  management 
system (ERTMS);  

9 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Railway_passenger_transport_statistics_-
_quarterly_and_annual_data (Available only in English). 
10 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20231115-2 
11 https://doi.org/10.2785/4866 (Available only in English). 
12 https://doi.org/10.2785/494153 (Available in English, French and German). 
13 https://doi.org/10.2785/606702 (Available in English, French and German). 
14 https://doi.org/10.2832/319371 (Available only in English). 
15 https://doi.org/10.2785/98370 (Available only in English). 

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• 

the number of railway stations equipped with facilities for people with reduced mobility. 

Data on lines equipped with the ERTMS have been published annually since the third quarter 
of 2020. The rest of the aforementioned data will be published when it is available from ERA. 

Since 2022, ERA and Eurostat have also coordinated their efforts to obtain more harmonised 
and consistent data on rail infrastructure and transport equipment. A major task was to compare 
the georeferenced data on railway line sections provided by ERA’s register of infrastructure 
(RINF) with the data on network segments sent under Annex V of Regulation (EU) 2018/643. 
This enabled differences in scope between the two sets of statistics to be identified and justified 
and made it possible to publish the first maps of traffic flows by rail network segment in 2023 
for reference year 2020. Further to the established collaboration with ERA, the data collection 
under Annex V for reference year 2025 will be facilitated by the use of information from RINF 
(e.g.  names  of  railway  stations  and  lines  and  characteristics  of  network  segments  that  are 
recorded in RINF by line section).  

Eurostat  has  developed  a  rail  distance  matrix  to  help  calculate  modal  split  indicators  by 
distance  class  without  imposing  an  additional  burden  on  reporting  countries.  The  distance 
matrix for rail is based on the classification of regions according to NUTS level 2 so that it 
matches  the  collection  of  regional  rail  transport  data  under Annex  IV  of  Regulation  (EU) 
2018/643. Further development of the distance matrix itself depends on the improvement of 
geographical networks. However, its application will mainly depend on the availability and 
quality of rail data reported at regional level (e.g. reduced reporting of unknown regions by 
countries).   

The geographical coverage of rail transport statistics could be extended as a result of future 
EU enlargements. Eurostat supports the efforts of candidate countries and potential candidates 
to comply with Regulation (EU) 2018/643 by discussing methodological issues, data quality 
and future progress. 

According  to  a  questionnaire  sent  to  the  members  of  the  Expert  group  on  rail  transport 
statistics  in  June  2024,  Member  States  do  not  currently  see  a  need  for  changes  or 
improvements to Regulation (EU) 2018/643. This will maintain the burden for respondents at 
the  current  level.  However,  new  national,  European  and  international  policy  initiatives  on 
sustainability and transformation of transport systems may create new data needs. Once those 
needs are identified, they will be evaluated and discussed in a timely manner within the Expert 
group on rail transport statistics. 

4.  

CONCLUSIONS 

the 

and 

from 

experience  gained 

The 
implementation  of 
results  obtained 
Regulation (EU) 2018/643 on statistics for rail transport remain positive. The Member States 
comply with the data provision obligations, and the resources allocated at both national and 
Commission level enable high-quality results to be achieved. The Commission supports the 
Member States in their implementation of the Regulation and encourages candidate countries 
and potential candidates to obtain and compile rail transport data from national infrastructure 
managers, railway undertakings or their national transport ministries. The Commission has 
modernised its IT system for validating and processing rail transport data, facilitating the work 

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of  the  national  statistical  authorities.  The  Commission’s  Expert  group  on  rail  transport 
statistics  remains  the  body  in  which  the  Regulation’s  implementation  and  potential 
improvements to it are actively discussed. 

Regulation (EU) 2018/643  is  still  an  efficient  and  effective  tool  for  producing  reliable  and 
comparable rail transport statistics at both EU and national levels. The statistics produced are 
disseminated  via  Eurostat’s  online  database,  statistical  articles,  news  articles  and  in  tailor-
made data extractions. Rail transport statistics are valuable for policymakers, the rail industry 
and national organisations, and for designing and assessing EU policies  aimed at fostering 
sustainable, clean and safe transport. 

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