Passenger Transport Up, Goods Transport Down

Compared to the low base of the previous year, the performance of interurban passenger transport increased strongly in the first quarter of this year, while that of freight transport decreased, but both fell short of the pre-pandemic level, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in its evaluation of transport performance.

Intercity passenger transport in the first quarter was 4.9 billion passenger-kilometers, up 68.9% from a year earlier, when traffic was low due to border closures. However, it was 27% down on the first quarter of 2019, mainly due to a continued significant decline in air and bus passenger transport.

Domestic passenger transport performance in terms of passenger-kilometers increased by 38% year-on-year. Bus and coach passenger transport performance was 22% and rail passenger transport 72% higher than in the first quarter of last year.

International passenger transport performance increased fifteenfold compared to a year ago, when the Hungarian borders were still closed. Eighteen-fold growth in air passenger transport was the main driver of international traffic, KSH added.

The performance of freight transport amounted to 13.6 billion freight ton-kilometers, down 4.6% compared to a year earlier and 11% compared to the first quarter of 2019. Domestically, the performance was 1.2% up, while internationally it was 7.2% down compared to a year earlier.

Domestically, rail and inland waterway freight transport performance decreased, while other modes increased, with road freight transport accounting for the largest share (80%), up 1.6%.

Road freight transport, which also accounts for the largest share of international transport, was 4.9% down on the first quarter of last year, while rail was 14% down.