The important role of SMEs in the railway sector

Dear friends,

As the year progresses, the Spanish rail industry remains a world leader. Our participation during this first quarter, Exporail Mexico, Middle East Rail and Asia Pacific Rail, has recorded the interest in our industry in the world. Also, the visit of a representative of Metro Delhi to Spain, and our participation in an institutional delegation to Sweden, have made it clear once again that the international railway industry relies on technology and Spanish rail services.

For example, in the section Members News of this number, you can see some of the most important contracts awarded in recent months to Spanish companies, such as access control and ticketing on trains of Buenos Aires, the access doors for passengers in Metro Panama or the design consultancy for the high speed section of Texas, among others.

In addition, this time, we wanted to dedicate the In Depth section to the important role that small and medium-sized European companies play within the value chain of the rail industry worldwide. In the case of Spanish SMEs, over the last decade, more than 50% of its exports were

destined to the European Union countries, market in which there is the highest concentration of the largest and most demanding rolling stock manufacturers in the world.

In this sense speaks Philippe Citröen, General Director of UNIFE, the European Association of the Rail Industry, whom we interviewed in this issue. According to him, half of the railway world market is supplied by the European industry, which is also leading the industry worldwide.

The section Destination focuses on three major markets: Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. Countries that are undertaking a major investment in rail infrastructure, and where some of our members have been working for several years.

Finally, I anticipate that in the next issue, to be published in September on the occasion of InnoTrans, we will include an article with the most important technological advances that the 50 Spanish exhibitors will be presenting at the fair.

Again, we hope that this issue is of your interest and you enjoy reading it.