Austrian state-owned railway holding ÖBB published its figures for 2024. Despite slight increases in net tonnes transported and turnover, its rail freight arm Rail Cargo Group (RCG) posted a negative loss of 24,5 million euros, mostly related to the floods which hit Austria (and not only) last Autumn.
In 2023, RCG had a positive financial situation with 13 million euros, almost 37 million euros higher than in 2024. “ÖBB was unable to fully compensate for the additional costs resulting from longer transport routes due to the flood catastrophe, as well as persistently high energy prices and expenses for purchased services”, the company stated.
On the other hand, net tonnes moved by RCG increased by 1,7 per cent to 79.9 million, and turnover grew by 3,5 per cent, from 1.90 to 1.97 billion euros. Net tonnes/kilometre also slightly improved from 26,1 to 27,3 billion (+4,6 per cent) The Austrian rail freight operator stated that their focus is now on internationalisation. Last year, in fact, the company acquired Dutch railway undertaking Captrain Netherlands and founded a Serbian one together with Transfera.
The rest of the ÖBB group
Concerning the ÖBB group in general, the financial result dropped 26,4 per cent from -470,1 to -594,2 million euros. More specifically, the passenger segment was also impacted by what has been called the ‘flood of the century’, with a drop from 109,1 million euros in 2023 to 70 million in 2024. The infrastructure branch recorded positive growth between 2023 and 2024, from 7,7 to 12,6 million euros (+63,6 per cent).