Strong demand for electric locomotives in Eastern Europe - Western Europe stagnates

[09.08.2019] Despite climate commitments and decarbonization strategies of the EU and national states, the European market for electric locomotives can be characterised as rather mixed than dynamic. Significant growth can only be expected in the East, while the demand in Western Europe will even decline slightly after peaking in 2018. These are the findings of the latest study on the worldwide market for electric locomotives by SCI Verkehr. In the long run – also beyond the considered 5-year period – SCI’s consultants expect a steady growth in demand for electric locomotives in Europe. At present, however, the high point in Western Europe is exceeded.

The transport demand in Eastern Europe is growing and there is still a pent-up demand for modern, more powerful and cross-border electric locomotives (with the European signalling technology ETCS), as Eastern Europe’s current fleet is comparatively old with more than 35 years, whereas the share of national locomotives is very high at around 90%. The average age in Western Europe is about 23 years and the share of national locomotives is less than 70%. Meanwhile the growth of open-access passenger transport is also increasing the demand for new locomotives in Eastern Europe.

The demand for new electric locomotives is developing differently also on a worldwide basis. Overall, new business for electric locomotives will decline slightly over the next five years. In the three most important regions Asia, Europe and the CIS, SCI Verkehr expects new business to remain stable at a high level. The slight decline in global market volume can be traced back to the smaller market regions Africa and North America. Due to the significant procurements in recent years, the market for maintenance and after-sales services is growing worldwide. 

SCI Verkehr, a consulting company specialized in the railway industry analyzed the current size, structure and players in the global markets for electric locomotives and drew up forecasts for the next 5 years.

As of now, the MultiClient study „Electric Locomotives - Global Market Trends 2019“ is available (in English) from SCI Verkehr GmbH (www.sci.de). Also get informed regarding our latest offer in form of the data annex in excel format which is available since 2017 for all of our published studies.

Contact:
SCI Verkehr GmbH
Phone: +49 (221) 93178-0
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