Czech companies associated with the Association of Railway Industry Enterprises (ACRI) saw a year-on-year turnover growth of 7% to a total of 130 billion Czech crowns last year. The sector thus confirmed its gradual stable growth, significantly supported by foreign orders. The export volume was 65 billion Czech crowns last year.
“These are comprehensive results of business activities for approximately fifty companies, which represent the vast majority of the Czech railway industry. They employ around 22 thousand people and contribute one and a half percent to the GDP of the Czech Republic,” says Marie Vopálenská, CEO of ACRI, adding, “In recent years, the sector has been steadily growing. Last year it was around 7% year-on-year. Undoubtedly, this is influenced by orders for foreign markets. Our members trade with the whole world and have their own representation or branches in many countries. Their main partners are EU countries, but also Serbia, Turkey, and India.”
The results of the members document the growth of export activities
The production volume of the Czech railway industry traditionally focuses on the manufacture of rails and accessories for the railway superstructure, mainly by the Třinecké železárny company, a part of the Moravia Steel group. Třinecké železárny is the only producer of rails and railway accessories in the Czech Republic. In 2023, they produced 250 kt of rails and railway accessories (compared to 248 kt of rails in 2022). They export their products to 60 countries worldwide. Last year, they delivered 27 kt of rails, including superstructure accessories, to the domestic market. Out of the total sales volume of 250 kt, the company exported 134 kt to EU countries and another 89 kt of rails went to Canada and other export destinations. The overall export for the evaluated period reached 89%, consistent with the long-term trend. “Among the interesting export orders of last year were the delivery of wide-gauge rails to Germany and the delivery of switch rails and wide-gauge rails to Ukraine for Ukrainian Railways,” adds Henryk Huczala, Technical Director of Třinecké železárny. The successful deals also include a rail tender for Canada for special grades IH (Intermediate Hardness) and HH (Head Hardened).
Significant representation in the production of railway industry companies is in railway vehicles. Škoda Group, along with its subsidiaries, is a leader among railway vehicle manufacturers in the Czech Republic. In 2023, it managed to secure several significant contracts in the Czech Republic and abroad. “Deliveries from our newly realized contracts will take place in the coming years, with the involvement of several other Czech companies in production. Among the main contracts we won last year are undoubtedly trams for Kassel in Germany, trams for Brno within the scope of an option, brand new trams for Prague or Bergamo in Italy,” lists important contracts Tomáš Ignačák, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of Regions CZ/SK & Central East at Škoda Group, and continues: “These also include contracts for the production of trains for operators in Italy, Finland, and Uzbekistan. We will be supplying trolleybuses for Vilnius in Lithuania and metro cars for Sofia in Bulgaria.”
A significant supplier of technological units in the field of security, communication, control, and communication technologies of transportation infrastructure is the company AŽD Praha. The company’s orientation is primarily towards railway transport. It provides production, complete delivery, and assembly of technological units for the security and control of railway transport infrastructure for its partners. Among the key activities carried out in 2023 was the construction of ETCS on several sections in the Czech Republic: Brno Horní Heršpice – Zastávka u Brna – 390 million CZK, Pardubice (outside) – Hradec Králové (outside) – 160 million CZK, and Milovice – Prague main station (outside) – 280 million CZK. Other key projects included, for example, the conversion of the track to alternating current power supply in the section State border Slovak Republic – Vsetín (outside) – 1.9 billion CZK, reconstruction of the Vlkov u Tišnova station – 1.4 billion CZK, and reconstruction of the track section Vlkov u Tišnova (outside) – Křižanov (outside) – 1.8 billion CZK.
Abroad, successful projects were mainly carried out in Poland, such as the modernization of the Poznań – Wronki line – 892 million CZK or the modernization of the Glincz – Kartuzy line – 256 million CZK. “We also expect growth in our activities both in domestic and foreign markets in 2024. In the Czech Republic, this will mainly involve the addition of ETCS control centers on corridors and also on the Brno – Česká Třebová line. Together, these are orders worth 55 million Czech crowns,” says Zdeněk Chrdle, CEO of AŽD Prague, adding, “In Hungary, we have a project to modernize the track including the installation of the intelligent digital system DIGITAL 4.0 in the Soroksár – Kelebia section for 900 million Czech crowns, or in Poland, the modernization of the track in the Wronki – Słonice section for 1.5 billion Czech crowns.”
Another significant member of ACRI, a manufacturer of railway bogies and undercarriage components, the company BONATRANS, achieved business revenues of 8.2 billion CZK in 2023. Exports accounted for 96% of the business revenues, with a predominance of EU markets (5.6 billion excluding the Czech Republic). At the turn of 2023 and 2024, the company reported orders amounting to 10 billion CZK, of which 80% represented so-called firm orders. Among the key contracts are deliveries for pan-European vehicle platforms, such as Vectron and Mireo from Siemens, Coradia from Alstom, Flirt and Kiss from Stadler, ForCity from Škoda, as well as entry into the Regio 160 platform from Pesa, wheels with noise dampers BONASILENCE®R+. Other bogie deliveries were made for new Warsaw metro cars (Škoda), where the wheels are also equipped with noise dampers BONASILENCE®P, for sleeping cars for Trenitalia (Titagarh/Škoda consortium), or the domestic project of ČD ComfortJet cars. Significant deliveries were made for other platforms or projects such as Griffin from Newag, Kaohsiung Line from Hyundai Rotem, ZELC and Datong locomotives. “In 2023, we became the major supplier of metro wheels in the USA and in 2024, we plan to focus our business growth on markets in the UK, Scandinavia, China, and India.
“In Italy, we are entering the segment of wheels for high-speed trains,” says Jakub Weimann, a member of the board and CEO of the company.
Other members of ACRI have also been successful. For instance, DAKO-CZ, a member of the CZECHOSLOVAK GROUP, which is a leading manufacturer of pneumatic, electromechanical, electromagnetic, and hydraulic braking systems for railway vehicles. In 2023, they secured a contract to supply hydraulic braking units, including controls, for a total of 80 trams to Gothenburg, Sweden. In the same year, the Třemošná-based manufacturer collaborated with the Škoda Group on the delivery of hydraulic braking units for new trams 29T3 and 30T3 to Bratislava. They also supplied their braking systems to the Polish manufacturer Modetrans Poznań, completing a contract to deliver electro-hydraulic braking systems for 49 low-floor four-bogie trams of type LF 07 AC (Wroclaw), and they secured another interesting contract to supply single-section two-bogie trams with electro-mechanical brakes to Berlin. Another notable business project was the cooperation with Pragoimex on the tram project for Brno, where hydraulic braking systems labeled EVO 2 will be delivered for Drak trams this year. An electromechanical brake will be used for temperatures down to -40°C for Daugapils, Latvia.
AMiT, a manufacturer of electronic systems for railway operators, reported a 17% increase in turnover in 2023. According to the company’s marketing manager, Matyáš Kubín, last November was the most significant milestone in AMiT’s thirty-year history: “We will be supplying an information system for the Kazakh State Railways worth several million euros in the coming years. The project includes the delivery of a complete information system for passengers, including WiFi and CCTV, for over 500 sleeping cars. Deliveries will take place over a period of 6 years until 2030. Over the past 2 months, we have managed to secure orders for project contracts in the hundreds of millions of CZK. These are new projects for which we will supply AMiT electronics and systems for Stadler. System deliveries will also continue for the ŠKODA Group and other customers.”
Similarly, the past year was evaluated positively by the marketing and PR manager of ZKL Bearings CZ, Hana Luxová: “As a Czech manufacturer of bearings, we continue in strategic partnerships with the Czech carrier ČD and other companies operating in the market in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Over the past three years, we have multiplied the volume of production and sales of bearings for railway applications. For the coming period, we plan to expand deliveries to neighboring countries within Central Europe. Therefore, we are strengthening production capacities and also investing in control and quality processes.”
The Czech railway industry, a driver of Czech exports
In 2023, companies in the railway industry participated in economic diplomacy missions to Bulgaria and hosted an incoming mission from Canada. ACRI also participated in trade fairs such as Eurasia Rail in Istanbul, Trako in Gdańsk, and Expo Ferroviaria in Milan.
This year’s first missions were to Israel and Qatar as part of President Pavel’s foreign trip, focusing primarily on solutions for sustainable urban mobility. Other countries where economic diplomacy projects will be directed in the coming months include Italy, Hungary, and India. In September, companies under the ACRI banner will participate in the prestigious mobility trade fair InnoTrans 2024 in Berlin, where ACRI, along with partners from the railway industry, Czech Railways, and the Railway Administration, will send a special train from Prague.
“The Czech railway industry is successful on an international scale. Companies associated with the Association of Czech Railway Industry Enterprises (ACRI) export more than half of their production. And this trend will continue. With the aim of strengthening their position in foreign markets, they are establishing their own representations and subsidiaries worldwide. Currently, they operate in more than 20 countries, and export orders from the railway industry are becoming one of the drivers of industrial production and its exports,” concludes Marie Vopálenská.
Note: 1 EUR = approx. 25 CZK
