Trains have overtaken planes as the preferred mode of transport for passengers in Germany on journeys involving at least one overnight stay, according to the latest figures published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
In 2025, 19.2 per cent of domestic and international journeys involving at least one overnight stay were made by train, compared with 15.2 per cent by aeroplane and 2.7 per cent by coach.
The data, published on 17 August 2026, provides an important insight into changing travel behaviour in Germany. It does not mean that the train has become the main mode of transport for multi-day journeys – the car remains dominant, accounting for 60.2 per cent – but it does show that rail transport has overtaken air travel in an important category of journeys.
In total, German residents undertook 274 million private and business journeys involving at least one overnight stay last year, either in Germany or abroad, 1.1 per cent fewer than in 2024. At the same time, domestic journeys rose by 3.9 per cent to 169 million, which is 5 per cent higher than the 2019 level.
International travel followed the opposite trend. The number of international trips fell by 8.3 per cent compared with 2024, to 105 million, but remained 5.4 per cent above the 2019 level.
For Germans, Italy was the most popular international destination in 2025, accounting for 12.4 per cent of all trips abroad, followed by Austria (11.1 per cent), Spain (10.9 per cent), France (8.3 per cent) and the Netherlands (7.7 per cent). These five countries have remained among the top overseas destinations for German residents for around a decade.
Another important indicator is the return of business travellers. Their numbers rose by 10.5 per cent in 2025, to 41 million, reaching a level just 0.2 per cent below that of 2019.
Deutsche Bahn: demand for rail travel continues to rise in 2026
The Destatis figures are supported by the trends reported by Deutsche Bahn in 2026. In the first half of the year, over 960 million passengers travelled on Deutsche Bahn trains, approximately 17 million, or 1.8 per cent, more than in the same period of 2025.
The increase is also evident in long-distance rail travel. DB states that ticket sales began to rise in April, and the company has sought to further stimulate demand through fares aimed at families, young people and passengers booking at the last minute.
By the end of June, 600,000 passengers had taken advantage of the Last-Minute offer, over 200,000 had travelled on a Family Ticket, and the free Jugend-BahnCard had been ordered more than 50,000 times.
According to DB, the growth is not limited to the domestic market. The number of passengers choosing to travel by train within Europe is almost a third higher than in 2019, exceeding 25 million, and the trend continues to rise.
Between major cities, DB is relying on its Sprinter services, whilst international long-distance travel is becoming one of the segments where the company sees the greatest potential for growth.
Train speed can shift passengers from air to rail
A study published in 2025 by researchers Katrin Oesingmann and David Ennen from the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) provides a data-driven answer. The study, entitled ‘The impact of the expansion of high-speed rail transport on short-haul air passenger transport – evidence from domestic and international traffic in Germany’*, analyses how changes in rail transport speeds influence air passenger numbers.
The research uses data for the period 2002–2019, covering both domestic connections within Germany and routes between Germany and major cities in neighbouring countries.
The finding is significant because a 1 per cent increase in rail travel speed is associated with a 0.55 per cent reduction in the number of air passengers on the routes analysed.
For domestic routes within Germany, the effect is even stronger, as a 1% increase in rail speed is associated with a decrease of approximately 0.74% in air traffic. The effect is more pronounced over short distances and among business travellers.
This conclusion changes the perspective on rail investment. It is not enough for a train to be high-speed; it must also offer a total journey time that is competitive with that of air travel.
For passengers, the comparison is not between the top speed of an ICE and the cruising speed of an aeroplane. What is compared is the time taken to get from one destination to another: access to the station, the time needed for boarding, departure from the city centre, stops, any changes and the time to the final destination.
This is precisely why the development of high-speed lines can have a much broader impact than simply reducing journey times.
It can shift the distribution of demand between modes of transport.
However, the DLR study also highlights an important difference. For the international connections analysed, the effect of rail speed on air traffic was not statistically significant. By contrast, the introduction of night trains could shift between 10 per cent and over 30 per cent of air traffic to rail, according to the research.
This finding suggests that Europe does not need a single solution to compete with air travel. For short and medium distances, speed is key. For certain longer international routes, night trains can reduce the disadvantage of journey time.
Germany demonstrates what investment in rail can achieve
DLR data on passenger transport in Germany provides a third key element of the analysis. In 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, rail transport accounted for approximately 9 per cent of total passenger transport performance, calculated in passenger-kilometres. Private road transport dominated with around 83 per cent, whilst air transport accounted for around 1 per cent.
Rail passenger transport reached over 100 billion passenger-kilometres in 2019, almost double the figure of around 57 billion in 1991. Over the same period, CO₂-equivalent emissions from rail passenger transport fell from around 1.6 million tonnes to 0.8 million tonnes, mainly due to electrification and a reduction in the use of diesel trains.
By comparison, domestic air travel in Germany generated approximately 2.14 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in 2019.
Taken together, the Destatis data, the trends reported by Deutsche Bahn and the conclusions of the DLR study paint a picture of a significant shift in the position of rail transport. Official figures show that rail has overtaken air travel in terms of the share of journeys involving at least one overnight stay, whilst the outlook for 2026 suggests that demand for Deutsche Bahn’s services will continue to grow. The DLR research, in turn, explains one of the mechanisms through which this trend can be consolidated: reducing journey times increases the train’s ability to compete with air travel, particularly over short distances.
In the first half of 2026, Deutsche Bahn reported an increase in passenger numbers, but also highlighted the impact of numerous engineering works on the network’s performance. DB Fernverkehr achieved a punctuality rate of 59 per cent in the first half of the year.
Consequently, competition between trains and aeroplanes is not merely a matter of price or the railways’ advantage in terms of emissions. Speed, frequency, direct connections and the predictability of the service are essential factors in ensuring that the railways’ advantages translate into passengers actually choosing to travel by train.
Thus, the reduction in journey times, the increase in capacity and the improvement in service reliability, driven by investment in infrastructure, can reinforce the advantage of rail already highlighted by the 2025 statistics.
*The impacts of high-speed rail expansion on short-haul air passenger transport – Evidence from German domestic and international traffic
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