Covid-19: Greece Sees Big Drop in Rail Passengers in First Quarter of 2021

Photo source: Trainose

Greece is the second country in the European Union that saw the largest decrease in rail passengers in the first quarter of the year, due to the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on rail passenger transport, according to Eurostat data.

According to the EU’s statistical office, the restrictive measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and change in travel preferences significantly affected the travel sector, including rail travel.

“In the first quarter of 2021, the number of rail passengers remained significantly below those in the same quarter a year ago, when Covid-19 did not yet have a tangible impact on the EU countries,” Eurostat said.

The data revealed that the largest decrease was observed in Ireland at 85 percent, as 8.4 million less passengers traveled by rail compared with the first quarter of 2020.

Ireland was followed by Greece with a 66 percent drop in rail passengers or 2.6 million passengers less.

The list continues with Slovakia (-60 percent or 9.8 million less passengers), the Netherlands (-59 percent or 46.9 million less passengers) and Denmark (-53 percent or 22 million less passengers).

On the other hand, the smallest passenger decreases during the same period were recorded by Slovenia (-11 percent or 0.3 million less passengers), Bulgaria (-19 percent or 0.9 million less passengers) and Romania (-19 percent or 2.8 million less passengers).