"This negative development is mainly due to the declining demand for transport in Europe," the Swiss combined rail transport company said in a press release.

The brief further read:

The recessionary trend started in the autumn of 2022 in connection with the [war in] Ukraine and the energy crisis and affected large parts of the world economy in the course of 2023.

To make matters worse, a number of factors are putting increasing pressure on the rail system. First and foremost is the poor quality of the rail network, especially in Germany, due to neglected maintenance and inadequate national and international construction planning. Capacity bottlenecks, delays and cancellations are the order of the day on many corridors.

The massive double-digit cost increases in the rail system are also counterproductive.

Michail Stahlhut, CEO of the Hupac Group, remarked on the future of combined rail transports:

Longer, heavier trains, efficient terminals, strengthening competition by promoting private railway companies and digital transformation are the most important keywords for the success of combined transport.