Berlin The railway market is booming. Not only the news that Flixmobility wants to invest around one billion euros in new trains caused a stir in the industry this week. Already on Tuesday, six transport companies from Germany and Austria had ordered 504 trams from Stadler, which can also be used as local and long-distance trains.
Stadler also takes care of maintenance for up to 32 years. Order volume: several billion euros. “The tram-train connects cities and surrounding regions. In this way, we enable mobility into the cities and back,” said Stadler Germany boss Jure Mikolčić to the Handelsblatt.
In many countries, politicians are relying on rail as an environmentally friendly means of transport in order to achieve their ambitious climate goals. In a study, the consulting firm Roland Berger assumes that the railway market will grow in all parts of the world – despite the pandemic. By 2025, the experts expect the largest annual growth in South America at 4.1 percent, followed by Eastern Europe with 2.7 percent. They also expect above-average growth of two percent for Western Europe.
Stadler Germany boss Mikolčić is happy about the demand: “We are prepared to make our contribution to the mobility turnaround: In addition to our classic electric vehicles, we have dual vehicles as well as hydrogen and battery trains in our portfolio,” he said.
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The battery-powered Stadler Flirt recently covered 224 kilometers electrically and received an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. “We are not only setting the world record with this, but above all we are providing a real alternative to operating the diesel routes, which still make up 46 percent of the routes in Europe,” said Mikolčić. “The battery train is to the railroad what Tesla is to the auto industry.”
In the first half of 2021 alone, the rail industry turned over the record sum of 7.3 billion euros, an increase of 14 percent compared to the previous year. According to the industry, the lion’s share of 70 percent was accounted for by vehicles, with the majority of the rest being in the infrastructure business. According to the company, the industry employs around 54,000 people and has been growing continuously for many years.
However, the manufacturers complain about low margins due to the nature of the public tenders, which are therefore also regarded as hostile to innovation – although the modernization of the railways is a priority.
More train traffic only with digitally controlled networks
“The railway industry is on a growth course worldwide,” said Ben Möbius, Managing Director of the German Railway Industry Association. If you want more climate protection, you need more rails. “Brussels and Berlin are setting ambitious goals: doubling the number of passengers by 2030, significantly more goods on the track. The offer has to be right, a digital quantum leap is needed,” he said.
The industry is ready to become a “leading supplier”. However, this requires a massive increase in investment and a “radical focus on innovation and travel experience, double the pace of planning and building, resilient supply chains, free competition,” explained Möbius. “Climate protection doesn’t work with tripping steps, but needs a mobility revolution.”
The federal government is already investing record sums in the railways. In 2007, 4.7 billion euros flowed into the railways, so last year it was 8.6 billion. And this year, for the first time, more money is to be invested in rail than in road.
The companies are calling for the rail network to be electrified and digitized in particular. This is the only way that “closer train sequences and thus better utilization of the rail network are allowed,” says Stadler manager Mikolčić. This is necessary for the train to become a real alternative to the car.
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