The rail supply market volume amounts to an average of 163.2 billion Euros. This is the annual average in the period 2015-2017. This value is expected to be 192 billion Euros in 2023, concluded UNIFE in the seventh edition of the World Rail Market Study, presented at Innotrans, Berlin.

The study covers the market development of sixty countries, which jointly comprise more than 98 per cent global rail traffic, clustered into seven regions. Data for countries that are not part of the focus group has been extrapolated on the basis of track kilometres, transportation units, passenger kilometres and tonne kilometres.

Drivers

Driven by considerable investments in services, infrastructure and rail control, the rail supply market has grown by 1.2 per cent per year from the 2013-2015 period to the 2015-2017 period and now has a volume of 163.2 billion Euros. Services accounted for the largest share with a value of 63.8 billion Euros, followed by rolling stock with a value of 52.6 billion Euros. Infrastructure accounted for 31.2 billion Euros, rail control for 15.1 billion Euros and turnkey management for 0.6 billion Euros.

“Especially western Europe and Asia Pacific have contributed to the positive development of the market, reads the report. Considerable investments in infrastructure and rail control were undertaken in Europe and Asia Pacific, for instance in Poland and India. Other markets, such as Africa/Middle East, Latin America, or the CIS region display a decline”, UNIFE stated.

Forecast

Looking at several thousand rai projects and verification through several top-down calculations, the research team was able to forecast the market in 4 years. It expects the market to grow by an annual rate of 2.7 per cent until 2023, when the annual volume is expected to reach approximately 192 billion Euros.

“Among the key drivers for this positive market development is a growing foundation from mature rail markets, where operators consistently invest in upkeep and extension of their infrastructure and rolling stock bases. Furthermore, upgrades and modernisations of signalling systems will further drive the market in established rail regions. In addition, emerging rail markets, such as Africa/Middle East or Latin America, contribute to market development through continued development of their infrastructure and rail systems”, the report reads.