Voestalpine Railway Systems strengthens its market position

Voestalpine Railway Systems is the world leader in the market for complete rail infrastructure systems including rails, switches and digital signaling technologies. With the acquisition of a safe house in France and new stakes in China and Argentina, the Group is expanding its international production capacity in this area. He even set up China's first factory to manufacture turnout monitoring systems. Progressive urbanization, especially in Asia, as well as European efforts to tackle climate change, mean robust market predictions for the rail sector in the years to come. In the 2019/20 fiscal year, Voestalpine Railway Systems generated revenues of € 1.4 billion from 70 manufacturing and retail locations worldwide. This segment employs 7,000 people, of which 1,500 are in Austria.

In the past, voestalpine Railway Systems has supplied rails, switches and related components for the French rail network, the second largest in Europe, with 30,000 kilometers of tracks. With the acquisition of Societe d'Équipement Industriel Lietaert, a safe house established outside Paris in 2012, the company is now also positioning itself as the main supplier for the French state-owned railway company Société nationalale des chemins de fer français. In this new location, the company also plans to expand into other markets dominated by SNCF technology, such as the Maghreb.

Thanks to the Chinese Turnout Technologies joint venture, which was formed in 2007, voestalpine is already one of the three largest providers of the national high-speed network in China, which will expand from 30,000 to 50,000 kilometers in the coming years. Its stake in Sanjia Turnouts, a renowned turnout system manufacturer since 2004 and employing about 150 people in the central Chinese city of Rouzhou, has enabled voestalpine to successfully enter the fast-growing short haul sector.

Through its subsidiary JEZ in Spain, the Voestalpine Railway Systems Group recently acquired a stake in a turnout assembly plant near Buenos Aires, Argentina. Sistemas Ferroviarios Argentinos SRL's share of regional production and optimized sales opportunities will significantly increase the Group's competitiveness in the Argentine market.