National Transport within Germany

The backbone of the domestic transport network is the de.NETdirekt+ block train system, which links 15 German terminal locations and also provides gateway connections for international onward transport. In the 2025 financial year, domestic transport recorded a 14.2 % decline in volume, falling to 155,408 shipments. The decline is primarily attributable to the discontinuation of two routes (Hamburg – Lehrte – Munich in September 2025 and Cologne – Kornwestheim/Ulm in December 2024) as well as the reduction in frequency on the Cologne – Basel route.

Southern Europe

In 2025, Kombiverkehr transported a total of 277,770 consignments on block trains between Germany and Italy via Switzerland and via Austria, as well as on the Germany–Switzerland bilateral route. This represents a 5.8 % decrease compared with the previous year. The Brenner corridor accounted for 209,785 of these consignments, a decline of 2.7 %. Traffic on the route via Switzerland, at 44,106 shipments, was 14.4 % below the previous year’s volume. This is attributable, among other things, to the discontinuation of the Cologne–Melzo service from September 2025 and the Kiel–Verona service since 2024, as well as a general, widespread decline.

Benelux

In 2025, the volume of freight transported on the Benelux route was 31.4 % lower than in the comparative year of 2024. A total of 67,103 consignments were carried on trains operating on the Benelux route. This decline is consistent with the reorganisation of transport operations mentioned in the results, in connection with our subsidiary Optimodal B.V.

Western Europe

In unaccompanied combined transport between Germany and France and between Germany and Spain, Kombiverkehr managed to ensure that freight volumes fell only slightly, by 0.8 %, to 47,301 compared with 2024.

Central and Eastern Europe

The volume of shipments between Germany and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe fell by 21.9 % to 32,592 shipments in the past financial year. This decline is due to customers switching to in-house production and the termination of a strategic partnership.

Northern Europe and Baltic states

With 85,807 consignments transported, services to Scandinavia via Baltic Sea ports and the fixed link remained Kombiverkehr’s second-largest international business segment in the 2025 financial year. The decline in volumes on this route amounts to 19.4 % compared with the previous year and is due, among other things, to the fact that a rail service was discontinued as early as September 2024, operations in Kiel were switched exclusively to the Schwedenkai, and connections via Lehrte to Lübeck were discontinued.