The fall in rail freight transport performance slowed down towards the end of 2009

The total performance of rail freight transport in the EU-27 was estimated at 366 billion tonne-kilometres in 2009, representing a reduction of more than 17% compared to 2008. This fall reflects the impact of the economic crisis on rail freight transport, which had registered sustained growth over recent years until the second quarter of 2008. Transit transport was particularly affected (-27% between 2008 and 2009), while the decline was less marked for national (-15%) and international (-20%) transport.