Press Passenger numbers in regular long-distance bus and rail transport down by half in 2020

Press release No. 172 of 8 April 2021

• Slump in passenger numbers due to the coronavirus crisis especially in the 2^nd and 4^th quarters of 2020
• Passenger numbers in short-distance transport down by roughly one third in 2020 compared with the pre-crisis year of 2019

WIESBADEN – Due to the coronavirus pandemic, only about half as many passengers as in the pre-crisis year of 2019 used regular long-distance bus or rail transport services in 2020. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reports that the number of passengers dropped to 88 million and was 49% lower than in 2019. 82 million passengers travelled long distances by rail, which is a decline of 46%. The number of passengers who used regular long-distance buses even dropped by 71% to 6.1 million.