Smart Railway Market Expected to Reach $38.47 Billion by 2027

According to a recent report published by Allied Market Research, titled, “Smart Railway Market by System and Offering Type: Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020–2027,” the global smart railway industry was valued at $18.30 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $38.47 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 12.8%.

Europe dominates the market in terms of revenue, followed by North America, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. U.S. led the global smart railway market share in 2019; however, India is expected to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period, due to increase in railway and metro projects as well as increase in penetration of digital technologies in public transportation across the country.

Smart railway is a technologically advanced approach to efficiently manage railway operations through sharing of rail data across rail infrastructure components, such as passengers, control centers, ticketing department, and freight. Smart railway are integration of the latest technologies, including Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cloud, analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), global positioning system (GPS), and machine learning (ML) to make rail operations more efficient and accurate. The growth of the global smart railway market growth is majorly attributed to surge in penetration of digital infrastructure and increase in requirement for automated & autonomous rail operations. Majority of railways are operated through government authorities where procurement and installation of such smart technologies are done through contracts and agreements. Entering into contracts/agreements with rail operators for long-term business opportunities is the key strategy adopted by the participants in global market.

The COVID-19 impact on the smart railway market is unpredictable, and is expected to remain in force in the near future. Passenger outlook has changed due to health concern, and rail operators have partially reopened public transport facilities with stringent commute rules to follow social distancing norms. The overall ridership across the globe decreased around 90%, which resulted in huge financial losses for rail operators. 

Procurement of the smart railway technology is done through long-term supply agreements to meet the desired requirement of rail operators. Majority of players are entering in long-term contracts with rail operators to leverage business opportunities. Market leaders are involved in continuous development and research activities for new product development and agreements to gain competitive advantage.

The growth of the global smart railway industry is majorly driven by rapid urbanization coupled with local commute requirements, rise in demand for passenger & freight capacity, increase in number of railway projects across the globe, and changes in passenger payment habits. However, high installation cost and infrastructure changes of the existing system are the factors that are expected to restrain the growth of market during the forecast period. Conversely, changes in ridership outlook and entering into contracts/agreements with rail operators for business expansion are expected to offer potential growth opportunities for the global market in the near future.

Key Findings Of The Study

• By System, the rail & freight operations management system segment is expected to register a significant growth during the forecast period.
• On the basis of offering type, the solutions segment is projected to lead the global market, as the segment is expected to register higher CAGR as compared to other offering types.
• LAMEA is anticipated to register the highest growth rate during the forecast period.
• Europe dominated the market in 2019; however, Asia-Pacific is anticipated to hold the leading share by end of the forecast period.

Key players profiled in the smart railway market report include Alstom, BOMBARDIER INC., ABB Ltd, Siemens AG, Cisco Systems, Inc., Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., IBM, Indra Sistemas, S.A., Hitachi, Ltd., and Aitek S.P.A.