Since last year, the company has been purposefully adapting its capacities to the new conditions on the Czech and European transport markets. On the domestic market, ČD Cargo trains transported 26.4 million tonnes of goods which represents a year-on-year increase in the absolute volume, yet with a decline in the transports performances. These have fallen by 3.2% in the year-to-year comparison. As a whole, performances of all rail freight carriers in the Czech Republic dropped by 5.3% during this period. The ČD Cargo Group transported 29.9 million tonnes of goods – it was successful in increasing transport volumes of containers in Germany, and expansion of international transports still remains the cornerstone of the Group’s strategy.
The year-on-year increase in transport volumes is given by a onetime swing. During the winter, there was a high demand for brown coal; the power and heating stations had empty storages which projected itself in the figures for the first half of the year. However, this effect is not going to repeat itself anymore, which has been also witnessed by the orders in the recent months. In comparison with 2023, the coal volume is still roughly by a third lower. Container transports and automotive have risen by 15% on the year-to-year basis. Transports of driving fuels and construction materials have been stable.
Within the restructuring, the company continued to downsize the labour force and reduce the overcapacities in its wagons and locomotives. In its financial statements, the company projected this in the creation of reserves, adjustments and depreciation of the redundant assets which do not generate adequate incomes any longer. All these steps will help ČD Cargo secure its long-term stabilization and sustainable functioning of the company in the environment where the European market of rail freight transport continues to shrink.