All eyes were on Trenitalia’ s ETR 1000, but the Trade Fair amazed visitors with over 140 world firsts
Ten is the number for InnoTrans 2014. Ten is the number of editions held, ten out of ten is the well-deserved score earned by this year’s trade fair which, between 23 – 26 September, brought rail sector operators from all over the world to Berlin. Before discussing market trends and the main innovations shown at the German exhibition, let’s take a look at some of this year’s figures. 2,758 exhibitors from 55 different countries, 61% of which from outside Germany, confirms the international vocation of this Trade Fair. Also the profile of professional visitors was a very global one, with 138,872 visitors from over 100 countries. The Berlin Expo Center, covering over 100,000 m², was completely full. The growth of InnoTrans is constant, with a 10% increase in exhibitors present at this year’s edition compared to the 2012 event.
The Berlin trade fair is also unique for the presentation of rail vehicles: 145 were on show this year amongst which Trenitalia’s very first ETR 1000 definitely stood out from the crowd. Overall 140 world firsts, in terms of products and vehicles, were presented over the four days of the trade fair. All of this highlights how the railway sector is, all over the world, one of those going through a period of great ferment and can look to the future, also in terms of work orders for both infrastructures and technological apparatus, not to mention rolling stock, with plausible optimism. In fact, the growth of the market for railway vehicles and relative infrastructures, has been constant over the last year, as shown by the World Rail Market Study presented at InnoTrans by UNIFE’S Director General, Philippe Citroën.
Today an annual growth rate of 4.3% is being recorded, a real level which is 1.5 % higher than was previously forecast. For the 2017-2019 period, statistics envisage an annual growth of 2.7 %. The study reveals that the highest rates of expansion will be recorded in the Asia and Pacific region (4%) and in North America (3.5%).For Latin America, UNIFE predicts an increase of 6% but also underlines that this is the area with the highest level of unmet demand. Special note should also be given to China, where the rail market is growing strongly and, according to the declarations made at InnoTrans by Chen Jianguo, Vice President of the China Association of Metros (CAM), is destined to grow further still. In fact, huge investments in the national rail network are planned: by 2020 a 6,100 km extension to the rail network is envisaged with a further 14,000 km being added by 2030. This expansion corresponds to an investment which by 2025 will reach 886 billion Euros. The trend, which is being recorded all over the world, towards growing urbanization, leads us to believe that the need to save energy while at the same time increasing the offer of public transport, alongside deregulation and liberalization of the sector, should guarantee stable rates of growth for the near future.
Franco Tanel
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