In late April, Italian open access operator NTV began operating high-speed services between Naples, Rome, Florence and Milan using a new fleet of Alstom-built high speed trains.
Tendering of local services in Germany has prompted heavy investment in new rolling stock. This is Bombardier’s Talent multiple-unit.
GOING EAST Europe struggles to maintain dominance in railway equipment manufacturing. James Abbott reports.
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010 was a watershed year for the railway equipment manufacturing industry. The axis of production has shifted from west to east, with China assuming predominance for the first time. This is no huge surprise: it has, after all, happened in many other industries – the interesting point is that the shift has taken so long to arrive in railway equipment. Railway equipment manufacture is one of those sectors cherished by the European Commission as it is one of the few in which Europe has retained predominance over the rest of the world. Thus it was something of a shock when this year’s annual survey of the industry by the German consultancy SCI Verkehr revealed that Chinese state-owned manufacturer CSR Corporation had overtaken Bombardier to become the world’s largest rolling stock firm by turnover during 2010. Bombardier, with its corporate headquarters in Montreal but with its railway equipment HQ in Berlin and most of its capacity in this sector in Europe, had long been at the top of the tree. Not only was CSR in the number one slot, but fellow Chinese firm CNR was in the 8 Industry Europe
number three position, pushing the other traditional members of the top troika, Alstom of France and Siemens of Germany, into the fourth and fifth positions respectively. Sixth came Transmashholding of Russia, with CAF of Spain, Hyundai Rotem of Korea, Kawasaki of Japan and GE Transportation of the US with roughly similar revenues behind the top six. China’s pre-eminence is based on the country’s massive home market, with investment monies being poured into a fast-expanding high-speed network and rapidly-multiplying city metro networks. The Chinese rolling stock market is booming on the back of that infrastructure spend. While the domestic market has roared away, thus far Chinese penetration of the export market in the railway equipment sector has been limited – at least compared to the predominance we have seen in some other industries. CSR and CNR have made sales to neighbouring countries in southeast Asia, and in a symbiotic relationship the Chinese have supplied wagons for hauling
ores to the Australian mineral companies that keep the Chinese industrial engine supplied with raw materials. But the Chinese tentacles are spreading, with for example the first Chinese-built train to enter service on the South American continent making a debut in March when the first of 34 electric multiple-units being built by CNR Changchun for the suburban operator Supervia began operations in Rio de Janeiro. As for Europe, Chinese success thus far has mainly been limited to peripheral countries such as Belarus and the country seems to have reined back on ambitions to penetrate the western European core, scaling back marketing efforts of late. Here, the concerns of the traditional manufacturers are more focused on another Asian competitor: Japan.
One way door While there is a measure of openness to the Chinese market, with the big western firms having joint venture agreements with domestic Chinese manufacturers, the European firms argue that there is no openness in Japan,
