European rail companies lost a staggering €26 billion in 2020 as the COVID-19 epidemic took a heavy toll on passenger and freight revenues across the continent, boding ill for 2021, designated to be the ‘European Year of Rail’. The alarming figures were released by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), a trade body representing a host of national railway carriers including Germany’s Deutsche Bahn, France’s SNCF, and Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane. Passenger services made up the vast majority of the losses, registering a 42% drop compared to 2019 at a cost of 24 billion euros. Freight services suffered a 12% reduction, which translated to a two billion euro shortfall.