Carriage of goods by rail by type of transport

Source: UNECE Transport Division Database.

Definitions: National rail transport : Rail transport between two places (a place of loading/embarkment and a place of unloading/disembarkment) located in the same country irrespective of the country in which the railway vehicles were registered. It may involve transit through a second country.

International rail transport : Rail transport between two places (a place of loading/embarkment and a place of unloading/disembarkment) in two different countries. It may involve transit through one or more additional countries.

Goods carried by rail : Any goods moved by rail vehicles. This includes all packaging and equipment, such as containers, swap-bodies or pallets as well as road goods vehicles carried by rail.

Tonne-kilometre by rail : Unit of measure of goods transport which represents the transport of one tonne of goods by rail over a distance of one kilometre.

Goods loaded : Goods placed on a rail vehicle and dispatched by rail. Unlike in road and inland waterway transport, transshipments from one rail vehicle to another and change of tractive vehicle are not regarded as loading after unloading.

Goods unloaded : Goods taken off a rail vehicle after transport by rail. Unlike in road and inland waterway transport, transshipments from one rail vehicle to another and change of tractive vehicle are not regarded as unloading before reloading.

International - loaded
Goods having left the country by rail (other than goods in transit by rail throughout) : Goods loaded on a reporting railway network and transported by rail to be unloaded in a foreign country.
Wagons loaded on a railway network and carried by ferry to a foreign network are included.

International - unloaded
Goods having entered the country by rail (other than goods in transit by rail throughout) : Goods loaded on a foreign railway network and transported by rail on the reporting railway network for unloading in the country of this reporting network.
Wagons loaded on a foreign railway network and carried by ferry to the reporting network are included.

Goods in transit by rail throughout : Goods loaded on a foreign railway network for a destination on a foreign railway network which are transported on the reporting railway network.
Wagons entering and/or leaving the reporting network by ferry are included.

Please note that country footnotes are not always in alphabetical order.

.. - data not available

Country: Croatia

Until 2012 international transport includes goods partly transported by railway and partly by another mode of transport. Since 2013 this kind of goods have been included in national transport.

Country: Estonia

''Goods in transit by rail'' includes transition between rail and maritime transport in ports.

Country: Germany

Total tonnes or tonne-km may not equal the sum of its components, as the total comes from annual data whereas the breakdown between national, international (loaded+unloaded) and transit come from preliminary monthly data.

Country: Slovenia

Prior to 2004 data are based on transport of goods as to origin and destination. From 2004 on data are based on journeys, which means that the transport of goods is observed as to the place of loading and the place of unloading to/from a rail vehicle

Country: Spain

Refers to Renfe and ADIF only

Country: Sweden

Due to changed collection and processing methods, data from 2018 onward are not comparable with previous years and are estimated at higher levels than before.

Country: United States

Includes only Class I freight railroads.