The rail transport market | France

1.1 Presentation of the rail industry market

The railway industry refers to all economic activities related to the production, sale and maintenance of railway transport vehicles This includes both passenger and freight transport, sometimes referred to as "freight".

The global rail market is growing and is expected to remain so for the next few years. The production of railway technologies has a significant share of the turnover in this market

The French passenger and freight transport market is following this growth trend in the world market, in which it plays an important role

France is also one of the largest European countries In terms of the use of trains as a means of transport, in terms of the number of kilometres travelled by individual passengers, Germany is second. The same applies to the number of railway lines built, french networks and Germany dominate the European market

The production of railway technologies is divided as follows: the manufacture of rolling stock, followed by signalling equipment, infrastructure works and other miscellaneous equipment. We also note the importance of the digitalisation of trains (for people) and investments made to improve the consumer experience

The passenger rail market is directly linked to the public funding This is in contrast to the freight sector, which is made up of many private players. Although appreciated for its lower environmental impact, rail transport is faced with a strong competition and aggressive pricing policies in the air and bus transport but also of the waterway transport for goods. The forthcoming liberalisation of the sector is expected to disrupt the market with the arrival of new players. The SNCF focuses in particular on the renewal of its offer .