Trains in Luxembourg: passenger numbers up, distances down

CFL reports a record number of passengers carried in 2025, while passenger-kilometres fell by 1.45%. The difference between these indicators sheds light on the performance of Luxembourg’s railways.

In 2025, CFL carried 31.4 million passengers, a record according to figures published by the company. Yet activity measured in passenger-kilometres fell slightly in Luxembourg. These two results do not contradict each other: they measure different things. One counts the passengers carried, while the other adds up the distances they travel.

Data from the Luxembourg Regulatory Institute (ILR), published on 11 November 2026, show a nuanced picture of developments on the railways. The decline concerns the cumulative distance travelled by passengers and is mainly linked to the domestic component of this indicator. On its own, it is not enough to conclude that passenger numbers are falling or that trains are being used less.

Two indicators, two ways of reading traffic

A passenger-kilometre is one passenger travelling one kilometre. Ten people each travelling ten kilometres therefore account for 100 passenger-kilometres; five people each travelling twenty kilometres also account for 100. This indicator adds together distances and passengers: it does not count distinct individuals.

The 31.4 million announced by CFL, by contrast, is the number of passengers carried over the year. It does not represent 31.4 million different individuals: the same person may be counted several times if they take the train repeatedly. The two sets of figures therefore describe different aspects of rail activity.

In 2025, the ILR total reached 547.48 million passenger-kilometres, down 1.45% year on year. At the same time, L’essentiel reports a 0.6% rise in the number of passengers carried by CFL. These trends can coexist if the number of journeys increases while the total distance travelled falls, for example when journeys are shorter on average. The available figures make this interpretation possible, but do not on their own establish the actual average length of journeys.

The decline is mainly in domestic journeys

The total number of passenger-kilometres is split between two components of different sizes. Domestic transport accounted for 343.85 million passenger-kilometres in 2025, down 2.45% on 2024. International transport remained stable at 203.63 million.

This distinction shows where the change in the indicator lies: it comes from the domestic segment, while the measure of international traffic is unchanged. On its own, it does not say what caused this change. The aggregated figures do not make it possible to distinguish the effects of journey length, travel habits or other factors. A fall in passenger-kilometres should therefore not be turned into evidence of a general decline in demand for rail travel.

The ILR also reports an average load of 71.12 passengers per passenger train per kilometre travelled, up 0.57%. This measure relates passenger-kilometres to train movements. It can rise even as total passenger-kilometres fall: passenger trains also travelled a shorter distance across the network.

Passenger trains travelled fewer kilometres

In 2025, trains travelled a total of 8.07 million train-kilometres on the national network, 2.04% fewer than in 2024. A train travelling ten kilometres produces ten train-kilometres, whatever the number of people on board. For passenger transport alone, the total was 7.70 million train-kilometres, down 2%.

Passenger-kilometres measure the volume of travel undertaken by passengers; train-kilometres measure train movements. Comparing the two helps explain why the average load can increase: if trains travel fewer kilometres while passenger-kilometres fall less quickly, the ratio between the two rises. This is reflected in the 0.57% increase in the average load published by the ILR.

This calculation describes a statistical ratio, not the experience of every passenger. It does not mean that all trains are fuller, or that passenger numbers are rising on every line or at every time of day. A national average combines situations that can vary by route and period.

What the figures tell us about rail activity

According to the ILR, the national network comprises 271 kilometres of lines, 628 kilometres of track and 68 passenger stations. These figures give an idea of the scale of the infrastructure, but are not enough to explain changes in traffic. An annual change may result from several developments that cannot be seen in a single total: the distance travelled by passengers, the distance travelled by trains, and the split between domestic and international traffic.

To track future developments, it will be useful to compare these same indicators again over a consistent period: passengers carried, passenger-kilometres by component, and train-kilometres. Reading them together, rather than looking only at passenger numbers or a single rate, will make it possible to see whether the decline observed in 2025 continues and where it is concentrated.