RFC NSRM publishes first Annual Report

The year 2025 marked a significant milestone with the integration of the former North Sea – Mediterranean and Rhine – Alpine corridors into a single, strategically important European freight corridor. RFC NSRM now connects major industrial regions and ports from the North Sea to the Mediterranean across seven countries, forming one of Europe’s most important rail freight axes.

A central achievement highlighted in the report is the establishment of the corridor’s governance structure and the publication of its first Implementation Plan in July 2025, setting out strategic measures to enhance capacity, performance and service quality across the corridor.

Despite strong progress in organisational and strategic development, the report underlines a challenging operational environment. Economic stagnation in parts of Europe, combined with a high volume of infrastructure works, had a noticeable impact on rail freight traffic. At the same time, the corridor remained heavily utilised, with more than 120,000 freight trains operating on RFC NSRM lines in 2025, confirming its critical role within the European transport network.

The Annual Report also addresses key performance challenges, particularly regarding punctuality and operational reliability. High network utilisation and the concentration of traffic at major junctions continue to affect overall performance. In response, the corridor intensified efforts in performance management, cross‑border coordination and the mitigation of temporary capacity restrictions.

Further progress was achieved in strategic priority areas, including:

• advancing the deployment of ERTMS to improve interoperability,
• enhancing capacity allocation and customer‑oriented processes, and
• strengthening cooperation with railway undertakings and terminal operators.

Looking ahead, 2026 will represent the first full year of operations for RFC NSRM. The corridor will focus on delivering tangible improvements for the market, with priorities including optimising capacity management, improving the coordination of infrastructure works and increasing punctuality in line with TEN‑T objectives.