Rail travel has overtaken buses and coaches in the European Union for the first time in a decade, although cars remain by far the dominant way of travelling. Belgium is below the EU average for rail’s share of passenger transport.
Trains accounted for 7.5% of all passenger-kilometres in the EU in 2024, according to new figures from Eurostat. That was an increase of 0.3 percentage points compared with 2023 and put rail ahead of buses, coaches and trolleybuses, which accounted for 7.3%.
It is the first time since 2014 that rail has had a larger share of passenger transport than buses and coaches.
Cars continued to dominate European travel, accounting for 69.2% of passenger-kilometres, although their share fell by 1.0 percentage point in a year. Air transport moved in the opposite direction, rising by 1.0 percentage point to 15.8%. Sea transport accounted for 0.4%.
The shift towards rail has been gradual. Compared with 2014, the share of passenger-kilometres travelled by train has increased by 0.9 percentage points. Over the same period, cars lost 2.9 percentage points and buses, coaches and trolleybuses 1.3 points. Air travel recorded the largest increase, gaining 3.6 percentage points.
Belgium below the European rail average
Belgium’s rail share was 6.7% in 2024, according to Eurostat’s modal-split data. That puts Belgium below the EU average of 7.5%.
The modal-split indicator measures the proportion of total passenger transport performance accounted for by each mode. In other words, it measures passenger-kilometres rather than the number of journeys. A 100-kilometre train journey therefore contributes ten times as much to the indicator as a 10-kilometre journey. Eurostat uses a territorial approach, counting the transport performed within each country’s territory.
Belgium’s rail position is particularly difficult to compare with some other countries using Eurostat’s separate rail-passenger statistics. Detailed Belgian rail passenger-kilometre data are confidential and are therefore not published by Eurostat. Belgium is consequently excluded from the EU totals in those statistics.
That does not mean Belgium’s railways are insignificant in European terms. Rather, the 6.7% figure and the separate rail statistics measure different things, and the latter cannot currently be used to give Belgium’s precise passenger-kilometre total.
Hungary leads rail’s modal share
Rail’s contribution to passenger transport varied considerably across Europe.
Hungary had the highest rail share, at 11.3% of passenger-kilometres, followed by Austria at 10.4% and the Netherlands at 9.8%.
Belgium’s 6.7% was therefore several percentage points below the levels recorded by these three countries.
The Netherlands provides an interesting comparison. Despite having one of Europe’s strongest rail markets, cars still accounted for 77.0% of total passenger-kilometres there in 2024. This illustrates that a relatively high rail share does not necessarily mean that cars have ceased to dominate overall travel.
Rail passenger numbers also reached a record
The modal-split figures are part of a broader increase in European rail travel.
According to a separate Eurostat dataset, people made 8.7 billion rail trips in the EU in 2024, generating 444.5 billion passenger-kilometres. Germany accounted for 109.1 billion passenger-kilometres, France for 107.3 billion and Italy for 55.9 billion.
Eurostat had previously reported that rail passenger transport by the main rail undertakings reached 443 billion passenger-kilometres in 2024, up 5.8% from 2023 and the highest level recorded since the start of the data collection in 2004.
These rail-specific figures should not be confused with the modal-split figures. The latter compare rail with cars, buses, aviation and maritime transport, while the rail passenger statistics focus specifically on railway transport. Belgium’s confidential rail data are also excluded from the EU totals in the latter dataset.
Cars still dominate
Despite rail’s gains, Europe’s transport system remains overwhelmingly car-oriented.
Lithuania recorded the highest share of passenger-kilometres by car in 2024, at 83.7%, followed by the Netherlands at 77.0%, and Finland at 75.4%.
Air travel was particularly important in Croatia, where it accounted for 45.6% of passenger-kilometres, followed by Bulgaria at 30.3% and Cyprus at 25.3%.
For buses, coaches and trolleybuses, Malta had the highest share at 17.0%, followed by Ireland at 16.6% and Hungary at 15.3%.
Rail gains ground slowly
The new figures do not point to a dramatic transformation of European travel. Cars still account for almost seven in ten passenger-kilometres, while air travel accounts for more than twice the share of rail.
But the direction of travel is notable. Rail has gradually increased its share over the past decade and has now moved ahead of buses and coaches for the first time since 2014.
For Belgium, the picture is more mixed. Rail’s 6.7% share of passenger-kilometres is below the European average, even as Belgium’s dense railway network continues to form an important part of the country’s transport system.
The figures were published during European Mobility Week, held each year from 16 to 22 September to raise awareness of sustainable urban mobility.
Some tourism statistics
- ANDORRA | Tourism grew modestly in 2025, with shifting visitor patterns.
- Bonaire bets on quality tourism as visitor numbers reach new highs.
- Antwerp welcomed with almost 3 million day-trippers in 2026 summer.
- SAN MARINO | 2025 record year for tourism.
- MALAYSIA | 42.2 million visitors in 2025, becoming Southeast Asia’s most visited destination.
- American tourists spend big in Belgium as fewer Belgians travel to the United States.
- Belgian Coast boasts record visitor numbers for 2026 summer holiday.
- Switzerland breaks tourism records with almost 44 million overnight stays in 2025.
- Belgium tourism reaches new heights as record visitor numbers underline the country’s growing appeal.
- France welcomes 102 million visitors and earns €77.5 billion from tourism in record-breaking 2025.
- BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS | Tortola at the centre of a record tourism boom.
- DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | 11.6 million international visitors in 2025.
- Aruba consolidates its position as a tourism powerhouse.
- United Kingdom tourism races past 45 million visitors as cross-Channel travel with Belgium grows.
- ITALY | More than 185 million visitors as tourism surges 7.1% in record year 2025.
- 8.7 billion rail trips in Europe in 2024 as Switzerland leads and Belgium’s data remain unavailable.
- NORWAY | Tourism breaks record with 40.6 million guest nights in 2025.
- NETHERLANDS | Rising international visitor numbers, domestic travel showed signs of stagnation in 2025.
- Taiwan tourism rebounds, Belgian market recovers, but cost pressures and geopolitical risks shape outlook.
- CURAÇAO | Tourism records for 2025, with 11,500 travellers from Belgium.
- International tourism to the United States continues to slide in 2026.
- Morocco records historic tourism year with 19.8 million visitors in 2025.
- Flanders continues to grow as a tourist destination with over 15 million visitors in 2025.
- Greece sets new tourism records in 2025 with nearly 38 million visitors.
- Thailand happy with Belgian visitor numbers and welcomes Tomorrowland festival.
- Belgian travel stats to the United States continued to decline throughout 2025.
- Is Greece too popular? 2024 tourism statistics raise overtourism concerns.
- TRAIN TRAVEL | European Union records 429 billion passenger-kilometres in 2023 but domestic travel still dominates.
- 5 million passengers flew from and to Brussels Airport in summer 2025.
- BELGIUM | Flemish museums attracted more than 4.8 million visitors in 2023.
- Belgium sees modest tourism growth in 2024, led by Flanders and Brussels.
- Travel in 2024: Spain, France, USA, China, Mexico lose ground and Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, UAE to grow market share.
- France, Spain, USA, China and Italy most visited countries in the world, Belgium 41st.
- France welcomed 100 million international visitors in 2024.
- Turkey welcomed 62 million international tourists who together spent $61 billion in 2024.
- SPAIN | 94 million international visitors and €108.7 billion tourism income in 2024.
- UN WORLD TOURISM BAROMETER | International tourism recovers pre-pandemic levels in 2024.
- Outside the EU, Europeans mostly travel to Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
- Intra-European travel mostly for fun and / or family.
- Europeans visit other European countries over 7 nights on average.
