This year’s InnoTrans trade fair, held in Berlin a few days ago, ended with outstanding success for the Czech railway industry. More than 30 members of the Czech Railway Industry Association (ACRI) exhibited their products and cutting-edge technologies. In addition to securing new business deals, Czech companies also proudly received international awards for their products.
“The Czech Republic has become one of the most successful participants in this year’s InnoTrans fair. Besides presenting products that attracted the most attention, such as the ComfortJet high-speed trains for ČD with a speed of 230 km/h, the internationally awarded tram for Bonn in Germany, or the Dual Shunter 2000 dual-mode locomotive, securing new contracts worth more than a billion CZK (40 mil. EUR) is excellent news for the continued development of the Czech railway industry, as one of Europe’s leaders in railway innovation,” said Marie Vopálenská, CEO of the Czech Railway Industry Association (ACRI).
The significance of participation in the InnoTrans trade fair was further emphasized by the presence of representatives from ministries and the Chamber of Deputies. The Czech exhibition was officially opened by Minister of Transport Martin Kupka: “The Czech railway industry is one of the key sectors of our economy, not only keeping pace with foreign competitors but also surpassing them in many areas. Our manufacturers are actively involved in developing the latest technologies, systems, and components, which are applied both in domestic and foreign markets. Thanks to our research and development, Czech companies contribute to the creation of innovative solutions that meet the strictest standards of modern transport. Especially in the field of high-speed railways, where new lines will soon be built in the Czech Republic, Czech manufacturers play a significant role. Their ability to offer advanced technologies enables us to be at the forefront, not only in Europe but also on the global market.”
Vice-chairman of the Economic Committee of the Czech Parliament, Martin Kolovratník, added: “Participation in such fairs is very important for promoting individual manufacturers and the entire railway industry. In their exhibitions, companies emphasized sustainability, innovation, digitalization, and products intended for high-speed railways. There is no better proof of the attractiveness of their offerings to foreign markets than the newly signed contracts. I was also pleased to see the launch of the most modern ComfortJet trains on the Prague to Berlin route. Not only does the Czech industry contribute to the production of the train, but the Czech Republic is also gaining a reputation as a country capable of co-creating the dynamic development of European railways. Personally, I traveled to Berlin on this train and was very pleasantly surprised.”
Selected Czech railway companies evaluated their participation in the InnoTrans fair as follows:
AMiT:
Our participation at InnoTrans, like in previous years, was very positive, especially considering the overall volume of future projects. During the four-day InnoTrans 2024 fair, we held almost 200 formal and informal meetings, including meetings with both existing customers and new, interesting contacts. Visitors to the fair could spot our large-format display screens from a distance, showing video presentations of AMiT’s products, references, certifications, and projects completed for global rolling stock manufacturers. Real product demonstrations were also available, and visitors could try out AMiT’s audio and video systems on a fully functional project installed at our stand.
AŽD:
At the 2024 InnoTrans trade fair in Berlin, AŽD successfully signed a major strategic cooperation agreement with the Australian company DOWNER EDI RAIL PTY LIMITED. The aim of this cooperation is to supply signaling equipment for railways in Australia and New Zealand. In addition, significant meetings were held with the management of Hungarian, Polish, and Serbian railways. Further negotiations also took place, opening opportunities for future international cooperation for AŽD.
BONATRANS:
Our participation in InnoTrans was an absolute success. We secured new contracts worth approximately 400 million CZK (16 mil. EUR) for wheelsets for freight wagons and wheels for the maintenance of locomotives and passenger rail vehicles. We held approximately 250 meetings with customers and suppliers from more than 50 countries worldwide.
PASSENGERA:
We secured another contract in Azerbaijan and confirmed further business opportunities that we expect to finalize in the coming months. At the same time, this was a valuable opportunity to meet customers from all over the world.
SVÚM:
For SVÚM a.s., the greatest benefit of participating in the fair was the opportunity to meet many existing and potential business partners and discuss business and other cooperation opportunities. A major advantage was the chance to hold workshops with colleagues from other sectors, allowing us to track trends in material development and technologyinnovation. We also signed contracts worth approximately 1.5 million CZK and discussed further orders worth around 1 million CZK for 2025.
SVV Praha:
At our stand, we met some of our key existing customers and also held meetings with potential future business partners, with whom we discussed possibilities for joint projects. As a result of the discussions, we expect future business orders for 2025 worth around 40,000 EUR.
ŠKODA GROUP:
We can evaluate the InnoTrans fair very positively. We held hundreds of meetings with customers across our markets and key partners. We presented our award-winning tram for Bonn, our ComfortJet set for Czech Railways, and our digital and signaling technologies. During the fair, we signed an option worth 25 million EUR to extend capacity of our trams operating in Tampere, Finland. Although the fair has ended, we are already preparing for the next event in two years.
T-CZ:
Our participation at InnoTrans 2024 was very successful in terms of the development of T-CZ’s business activities. We were able to inform new and existing customers about the expansion of our product portfolio with the application of AI (artificial intelligence) and its use in railways. We confirmed that video segmentation, autonomous driving, and predictive diagnostics are the directions that the railway world will be moving toward in the coming years. In the field of railway radiocommunications, the clear future direction is the support of FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System), and we are pleased that at InnoTrans, we established new technical and business contacts in this progressive sector.
VÚKV:
The main benefit for VÚKV was the opportunity to meet most of our customers in person and discuss future orders. In terms of newly secured contracts, we reached a volume of around 30 million CZK (1,184 mil. EUR), not only from Europe but also from nearby or more distant parts of Asia. A highlight of our participation was winning the RAILWAY AWARD 2024 in the category of TOP EMPLOYER RAILWAY & RAILWAY TECHNOLOGY from the Railway Association.
