Contracts worth several billion CZK (tens to hundreds of millions EUR) were negotiated by individual companies of the Czech railway industry during the TRAKO 2025 rail-technology fair, held this week from 23 to 26 September 2025 in Gdańsk, Poland. These negotiations resulted in concrete commercial projects for the supply of components, technologies, and systems for rail-traffic protection and control.
“This year’s participation in the TRAKO fair was exceptionally important and highly successful. The Czech railway industry ranked among the largest exhibitors and presented products that were among the most compelling highlights of this year’s TRAKO – from the battery-electric BEMU RegioPanter units and Škoda Group’s new ForCity Plus 52T tram to BORCAD’s seats used by virtually all major rolling-stock manufacturers, our own ETCS technology, innovations such as autonomous-train solutions, and much more. By exhibiting at the fair, we managed to support contracts for the Czech industry worth billions of CZK (tens to hundreds of millions EUR),” said Marie Vopálenská, Chief Executive Officer of ACRI – the Association of Czech Railway Industry Companies, which coordinated the Czech participation at TRAKO.
For the Czech railway industry, exports are crucial, accounting for 50 % of total production – approximately CZK 66 billion (≈ EUR 2.64 billion) annually, with Poland ranking among the five largest export markets for Czech manufacturers. Czech railway operators are also highly active in Poland, successfully reaching local customers.
The Czech exhibition at TRAKO 2025 in Gdańsk was also visited by Břetislav Dančák, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Poland, who remarked:
“I consider the TRAKO fair a unique opportunity to present Czech companies not only within Poland but across Europe. Czech firms are capable of delivering unique solutions and innovative products that enjoy a strong reputation in the Polish market, and I personally encounter numerous positive reactions from Polish partners to their cooperation with Czech companies. It is a natural interest and mission of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Poland to support the activities of the Czech industry in the Polish market. Worth noting, in addition to the supply of Czech-made products and technologies, are the increasingly visible activities of Czech railway operators. All these factors help build the good name of the Czech Republic in Poland.”
One of the world’s leading manufacturers of railway-vehicle seating, BORCAD, is a regular exhibitor at TRAKO. This year, however, for the first time the company – in co-operation with rolling-stock partners – showcased its products across as many as four rolling-stock exhibits, thereby presenting virtually its entire product portfolio, ranging from long-distance solutions to regional-service units.
BORCAD’s seats were displayed in the ComfortJet high-speed-train sets of the Siemens-Škoda consortium, in Škoda’s new battery-electric RegioPanter BEMU unit, in PESA vehicles for the regional operator ŁKA (Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna), and in a Stadler FLIRT unit for Koleje Mazowieckie. Poland accounts for roughly 10 % of BORCAD’s order volume; in 2025 the company expects record sales in Poland of around CZK 100 million (≈ EUR 4 million). Its goal in the near future is to maintain this volume at a stable level of around EUR 4 million annually.
During the fair, BORCAD held a series of key negotiations and confirmed as well as further developed co-operation with major regional rail operators in the Mazovian and Łódź Voivodeships – Koleje Mazowieckie and ŁKA – both among the leading players in Poland’s regional railway market.
Poland is among the five most important export markets for Škoda Group. At TRAKO, Škoda Group confirmed its status as a leading European manufacturer of vehicles for zero-emission urban and rail mobility. Its exhibits were among the most attractive highlights of this year’s fair. Škoda presented, among others, its latest ForCity Plus 52T tram, thus reinforcing its bid in the ongoing tender for 150 trams for Warsaw, a competition the company is determined to win.
Key advantages of Škoda’s new-generation trams, which are generating strong interest among public-transport operators, include not only enhanced passenger comfort in urban transport but also significantly extended service intervals, leading to substantially lower operating and maintenance costs. Škoda Group also introduced a new generation of battery-electric RegioPanter BEMU regional units – the first four trains have already logged more than 500,000 kilometres in the Czech Republic. This technology provides a solution for zero-emission, efficient regional services on non-electrified lines, offering passengers faster, through connections without transfers and delivering savings in public funds to ordering authorities thanks to increased ridership driven by greater travel comfort.
The company also showcased its own anti-collision system, for the supply of which into local trams Škoda Group has signed a contract with a partner in Wrocław.
AŽD Praha’s participation in TRAKO 2025 in Gdańsk further strengthened its position on the Polish market. The company succeeded in confirming partnerships with leading construction and infrastructure firms, which today regard AŽD as a fully-fledged supplier of signalling technology and a reliable partner for large-scale contracts. AŽD is currently involved primarily in the delivery of electronic interlockings and other trackside components visible in railway infrastructure, such as signals and point machines, of which it has already installed more than 1,000 units in Poland and is set to supply several hundred more in the near future. Looking ahead, further opportunities are emerging in technology tenders, particularly in the area of ETCS Level 1 and 2 systems.
AŽD has already completed or is implementing contracts for the modernisation of key sections of the Polish rail infrastructure, for example on the lines Szczecin – Poznań, Kartuzy – Gdańsk Osowa – Somonino, Bydgoszcz Fordon, Sochaczew, Terespol, Oleśnica – Kępno, Będzin – Katowice Szopienice, and Kuźnia Raciborska.
For BONATRANS – Europe’s leading producer of wheelsets for rail vehicles, headquartered in Bohumín (Czech Republic) – TRAKO 2025 represented its most important international showcase of the year, which the company used to strengthen relationships with customers across all segments of rail transport.
“We have been supplying wheelsets for new vehicles as well as wheels and axles for maintenance to Poland for many years – virtually for all types of rolling stock: metros, trams, EMUs, locomotives and freight wagons – worth a total of CZK 4 billion (≈ EUR 160 million) over the past ten years. Given the expansion of the fair in recent years, we also held dozens of meetings with partners from other European countries and from further afield, including Turkey, Morocco, Brazil and Argentina,” said Marcel Ujfaluši, Marketing & Business-Development Manager at BONATRANS.
DAKO-CZ – a leading manufacturer of pneumatic, electromechanical and hydraulic braking systems for rail vehicles with a 209-year heritage – took advantage of TRAKO 2025 to strengthen its position in the promising Polish market. A notable outcome was a newly signed contract to supply braking equipment for 30 Deutsche Bahn passenger coaches, to be built by Stadler in Poland. The contract is valued at ≈ EUR 1 million; it represents the first batch on a new platform developed jointly with Stadler and offers potential follow-up options. Deutsche Bahn is an important operator for which DAKO-CZ has an established service centre.
The company also highlighted its co-operation with Škoda Group – the outdoor rolling-stock display featured the new-generation ForCity Plus 52T tram equipped with DAKO electromechanical brake units and track brakes. Overall, DAKO-CZ assessed the business potential of the fair very positively.
For Retex – a manufacturer of technical textiles supplied to the industrial, construction and transport sectors – the main goal at TRAKO 2025 was to strengthen ties with leading European producers of rail-vehicle seating and interior fittings. Another objective was to establish co-operation in the field of insulating materials with train manufacturers such as Newag, PESA and Alstom – targets that were successfully achieved.
Moreover, new opportunities have opened up for Retex in another segment – sun-protection / interior-shade systems (e.g. roller blinds and screens), where innovative textile materials meeting the strictest HL3 fire-safety standards are required.
“We view TRAKO as a fair of rapidly growing importance, reflecting the dynamism of the Polish economy and reinforcing Poland’s role as a key player in the railway industry. The potential order volume opened up at the fair could be worth up to the low tens of millions of CZK (≈ EUR 0.8 – 1.2 million) for Retex,” stated Ján Krivda, Strategy Director and Management-Board Member of Retex.
The Czech railway industry was present at TRAKO 2025 in strong numbers – with over 40 companies participating, both within the official Czech Republic exhibition under the auspices of ACRI and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, as well as through individual company stands.
