Statistics Netherlands (CBS), in a new report, has revealed that the country’s rail freight transport will be down significantly in 2023.
A total of 39.3 millions tonnes of goods were shipped by rail, a decrease of nearly 12% from the record-high of 2022.
According to Statistics Netherlands the decline was primarily caused by a significant decrease in the transportation and storage of goods and coal.
Containers, which accounted for nearly 44% by weight of rail freight, dropped 11.5% to 17.3 millions tonnes. The number of containers also reflected this decline.
Most of these containers are connected to trade routes that involve Germany and Italy. Notably, domestic containerized transportation within the Netherlands has experienced a steep drop of 27.9% from 2.2 to 1.6 millions tonnes.
Transport domestic and cross-border
The majority of rail cargo in the Netherlands is bound for international markets. A significant portion is loaded domestically and deloaded abroad.
The volume of freight exported fell to 24,0 million tonnes, a drop of 12% compared to last year. The coal transport to Germany, which is a major component of this trade fell by 22.3%.
The Netherlands imported 10.1 million tonnes from Germany, a 4% decrease. This was primarily due to a drop in the number of goods transported in containers (down 10.%), and a significant drop in metal ore and other minerals (down 38.3%).
Imports of bulk products from the agriculture sector, including cereal crops and maize saw a significant increase of 45.3%.
The decline in trade was not limited to international trade. Domestic transport dropped by 27.33% while transit trade fell by 15.8%
The figures are in stark comparison to those released a year earlier, when it was revealed 44,5 million tonnes of goods were transported on Dutch railways by 2022. This was 4.3 per cent more than the previous year, and at the same time the highest gross weight ever measured by Statistics Netherlands.