Overall Rail transport is safe and reliable. The high environmental friendliness and, in addition, the high transport capacity make rail transport attractive. What speaks against it, however, are the high costs and the general inflexibility.

More advantages and disadvantages of rail transport are listed below.

• safe transport
• exact time tables, reliable
• hazardous goods permissible
• no general driving ban on Sundays
• heavy lift traffic handling
• economy of scale → advantage only for block-trains and direct trains
• high transport capacity 
• higher single loading weight compared to trucks
• own infrastructure → certain level of independence (e.g. no traffic jam)
• relatively fast point to point delivery
• if electrified, best ecological performance compared to other transport modes
• low energy consumption per tkm, based on transported unit 
• opportunities for automation

• no complete coverage and in most countries reduction of the track network
• inflexible operations through binding timetable 
• inflexible due to high expenditures of time and costs for the preparation and implementation of transportation
• capital-intensive set-up, operation and maintenance costs
• high external costs
• exclusion of certain dangerous goods
• no seamless interfaces between competing railway networks under separate ownership (interoperability and non-discrimination)