Overview
- Germany recorded about 11.5 billion trips on scheduled buses and trains in 2025, in preliminary data from Destatis that show overall stability from 2024.
- Local public transport held near 11.3 billion trips, with buses carrying 5.3 billion riders and streetcars about 3.9 billion.
- Regional rail rose about 1% to 2.8 billion trips, a gain Destatis links to strike‑hit months in early 2024 that lowered the prior baseline.
- Long‑distance services reached 157 million trips, with rail at 146 million up 3% and long‑distance buses at 11 million up 6%, though adding more rail operators to the 2025 survey lifted the rail increase by about one point.
- Destatis flagged limits because it counts boardings rather than people, automated passenger counters are not widespread, and the nationwide Deutschlandticket’s mixed sales channels made 2024 bus use hard to track and likely undercounted.