7/22/2010

Mega-trends boosted by Bavaria: mobility for metropolises

Delhi, Guangzhou, Mecca, Bangalore, Karachi, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City… Many of the world’s nearly 500 metropolises have made a major decision.

To achieve their objectives of reducing ultra-snarled congestion and choking air pollution, each of these million-population cities is going with trains—metros and regional rail lines.

As the above list shows, the vast majority of these billion euro mass transit building, extension and upgrading projects are in the developing world.

In view of the most recent population statistics, that’s not surprising. Since 2008 and the first time in history, more than half of the world’s population (currently 6.6 billion) resides in urban areas. This urban population of 3.3 billion is set to rise by 1.7 billion by 2030. Nearly all of that rise will take place in the already teeming and often-thriving cities of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

A prime beneficiary of this surging need is Bavaria’s rail industry.

As is the case with state’s best-in-the-world automotive sector, the industry is comprised of a mix of highly-regarded major players availing themselves of components, subsystems and planning, operating and monitoring software and other services provided by state suppliers.

What makes rail projects so demanding is that, to use an analogy from the automotive sector, they require not only the manufacturing of cars but also the building of the roads upon which they run, the lights ensuring their safe passage, and the gas stations at which they fuel.

With the exception of building the track beds on which the trains run, every other component of rail projects is supplied - on a turnkey basis--by Siemens, whose Mobility department is headquartered in the central Bavarian city of Erlangen. As befitting its status of being the world’s leading manufacturer of braking systems for rail vehicles, Knorr-Bremse has been profiting strongly from the metro-building boom. The Munich-based company is especially strong on China’s fast-growing market.

The highways—tracks—on which mass transit and other trains travel is often supplied by the central Bavarian company of Rail.One, the leader in the field of developing ultra-reliable and long-life rail grids. Other major rail suppliers from Bavaria include Munich’s Schaltbau (a large range of electronic components), Holzkirchen’s Transtechnik (on-board and other power supply systems, converters and much more) and Munich’s Kontron (train management and passenger information systems).

Source: Invest in Bavaria

For more information about establishing a location in the State of Bavaria, please contact Jan Danisman, phone: 212-317-0588 or email: info(AT)bavaria.org.