closing report with updated statistics and additional comments

20 per cent more trade visitors than in 2008
17 per cent rise in exhibitors, 20 per cent growth in rented space
52 world premieres of innovative products
Millions of euros worth of business concluded
Exhibitors and visitors very satisfied
Railway station fest attracts around 14,000 visitors
Next InnoTrans from 18 to 21 September 2012

This year the world’s leading trade fair for rail transport technology attracted higher numbers than ever before. A total of 106,612 visitors from more than 110 countries attended the eighth InnoTrans, over 20 per cent more than at InnoTrans 2008. At InnoTrans 2010 exhibitor numbers rose to 330 and rented space was up by 20 per cent, reflecting substantial growth in all the main areas. More than half of all the exhibitors and visitors who attended the leading trade fair for the industry came from abroad.

Despite the bad weather the big railway station fest at the weekend attracted approximately 14,000 train enthusiasts of all ages to the high-tech show on the rail track and outdoor display site.

Over a period of four days business was brisk, agreements worth millions of euros were concluded, numerous trains changed hands, the InnoTrans Convention, Speakers’ Corner and Career Point were all well received, so that trade visitors and exhibitors were very satisfied with InnoTrans 2010. 96 per cent would recommend InnoTrans to their colleagues or business partners. More than 95 per cent plan to attend the next InnoTrans. This survey revealed better results than at InnoTrans 2008, which had already produced high figures. Among trade visitors, the number of decision-makers and experts at the fair was also higher than in previous years. Almost half of the trade visitors this year occupied senior management positions in their companies.

InnoTrans a success in every respect, say exhibitors
Dr. Hans-Jörg Grundmann, CEO Siemens Mobility: “From Siemens’ point of view InnoTrans 2010 was a success in every respect. We had a wealth of new vehicles on display on the outdoor display site and our all-new “Complete mobility” range of products on show on the stand. Our visitors were fascinated. The definite interest expressed by many customers was proof that the industry is in good shape. Once again InnoTrans has shown that it is the world’s leading trade fair for the industry.“

André Navarri, President and COO, Bombardier Transportation: “More than ever InnoTrans proved that it is the leading international trade fair for rail transport technology. In Bombardier’s view it is the leading platform for showcasing products and services to the markets around the world. We are delighted that our ZEFIRO 380 ultra high-speed train became a symbol of this year’s fair. At InnoTrans we exhibited highly efficient and eco-friendly technology which was very well received. Once again this shows that we are setting the trend.”

Philippe Mellier, President Alstom Transport: “Once again, this year’s InnoTrans was synonymous with a host of business meetings. It was also an opportunity to once again lay down our strategic path, borne out of the changes taking place in the global rail market. We are continuing to expand our range of products and services – with our LocLife Services and the ONYX hybrid locomotive as well as with our new high-speed Speedelia platform, and are continuing to strengthen our position around the world.“

James N. Sanders, General Manager, Vossloh AG: “We were already very satisfied with the results of the last fair that toppled records in 2008, but InnoTrans 2010 has exceeded our expectations by far yet again. There were large numbers on our stands, both visitors and high-ranking trade visitors. Here in Berlin we were able to show our exciting new products to an international audience.“

Lorenzo Simonelli, President and CEO, GE Transportation: “GE exhibited its PowerHaul locomotive for the first time at InnoTrans 2010 after announcing its most technologically advanced locomotive at InnoTrans 2008. In addition, we used InnoTrans as a platform to announce the largest locomotive purchase agreement in the history of Brazil with our customer MRS Logística S.A. GE Transportation has once again confirmed its commitment to innovation, sustainability and its customers worldwide at InnoTrans 2010.”

Dr. Rüdiger Grube, CEO, Deutsche Bahn AG: “Overall there is a global shift towards rail travel, proof that railways are a forward-looking means of transport. With its record visitor numbers InnoTrans 2010 confirmed this as well.“

Michael Clausecker, Director General of the Union of the European Railway Industries (UNIFE): ”InnoTrans 2010 was again the world’s number one trade show for rail, only better organised, more efficient and larger than ever before.”

Prof. Dr. Ronald Pörner, General Manager of the German Railway Industry Association (VDB): “Once again InnoTrans 2010 put on a display of superlatives, whether it was the number of product firsts, the high standard of meetings, or the number of visitors and exhibitors from abroad. Thus InnoTrans showcased an industry whose economic performance is picking up once again. Even though InnoTrans is not a trade fair for placing orders the companies of our association, which currently numbers 140 members, were able to announce that they had concluded business deals.“

Yang Xiongjin, Project Manager & Senior Engineer, Global Business System, China CNR Corporation Ltd.: “As the world’s largest trade fair for the industry InnoTrans is a good platform to showcase our skills and products, where we can talk directly with our customers and meet old and new friends. I am certain we will be back in two years.“

Alistair Dormer, Managing Director, Hitachi Rail Europe: “From Hitachi’s point of view the trade fair was a great success. My impression was that there were more visitors and exhibitors from abroad at this year’s InnoTrans than at previous events. We had a lot of good talks with potential customers, business partners and suppliers. We are extremely satisfied throughout.”

52 world firsts and a wealth of innovations
A total of 2,242 exhibitors from 45 countries, 330 more than at InnoTrans 2008, exhibited their products and services, for the first time occupying the entire area of the grounds. 121 new vehicles were on display at the 3,500-metre long rail track site, 30 more than two years ago. For many companies InnoTrans was an important venue to showcase their products for the first time. 52 vehicles and components premiered at the fair. 81,000 square metres of space were rented out at the eighth InnoTrans, a new record. All five display sections at the fair, Railway Technology, Railway Infrastructure, Public Transport, Interiors and Tunnel Construction, registered significant growth. This year the overall amount of space occupied inside the halls and on the outdoor display site equalled 150,000 square metres.

More than 1,000 national and international representatives of industry, science and politics attended the opening of InnoTrans 2010, including Vice President of the European Commission Siim Kallas and Federal Minister of Transport Dr. Peter Ramsauer. EU Transport Commissioner Kallas spoke about his vision of a single European rail transport market by the year 2050.

Keen interest in Speakers’ Corner and Career Point
Once again, the programme of events at this year’s InnoTrans Convention – the Dialogue Forum, the European and Asian Rail Summit (EARS), the International Tunnel Forum and the Public Transport Forum, attracted a great deal of attention. Speakers’ Corner made a successful debut at InnoTrans. In addition to several companies, the Brazilian Minister of Transport Paulo Passos and representatives of Russian Railways made use of this new platform. Many of the stands bore the Career Point logo, and this year there was also a Career Point Pavilion. Around 800 students, job trainees and schoolchildren with an interest in rail transport and public transport subjects, including from France, Austria, Russia and other countries, made use of this opportunity to meet experts from companies and associations.

Other comments from exhibitors
Roberta Rebora, Manager Marketing & Communication, Hypertac Europe: “In our view InnoTrans once again confirmed its role as the leading platform for showcasing rail industry innovations. Our participation in the fair was a success, in terms of both the number and high standard of customers. Compared with the last fair there were even more visitors on the Hypertac stand, and we were able to strengthen the close relations with our major customers.“

Yasuki Kurasawa, Director, Administration Dept., Japan Overseas Rolling Stock Association (JORSA): “When InnoTrans was launched in the nineties in Berlin we rather considered it a European event. Today it is the largest trade fair for the world’s railway industry and for JORSA the ideal platform to properly represent the interests of the Japanese railway industry.“

Graham Coombs, Communications Director, Railway Industry Association (UK): “From our point of view InnoTrans is the world’s leading event. Everyone who took part was delighted with the many people they met. Many of our exhibitors received serious enquiries which will probably be followed up by orders.“

Daniel Steiner, President SWISSRAIL Industry Association: “InnoTrans has always been an important event both for us and the entire industry. This year’s InnoTrans was the best so far.“

Rodrigo Vilaça, CEO, Associação Nacional dos Transportadores (ANTF): “We are very satisfied with our performance at InnoTrans. We had important talks about modernising Brazil’s underground rail system and surface rail network. Other topics discussed on our stand were a network expansion for goods transport and a proposed high-speed line.” Vicente Abate, President, Associação Brasileira da Indústria Ferroviára (ABIFER): “For us, taking part in InnoTrans was very important. We wanted to demonstrate our capabilities and at the same time establish new contacts in order to improve the technologies we use. We will be back again next time, maybe with a larger stand.“

Stephan Anemüller, Head of Events and Publications, Association of German Transport Companies (VDV): “VDV and its partners are extremely satisfied with the turnout and standard of the trade visitors. There were very large numbers on our joint stand for almost the entire duration of the fair. The Dialogue Forums of the VDV and the German Transport Forum attracted an above-average number of delegates and in terms of content were much more than a supporting event.“

Simone Purbs, Head of Rail Management, Schaeffler Gruppe: “The Rail Division of the Schaeffler Group with its roller bearing products from INA and FAG has been at InnoTrans in Berlin since it was first launched. During this period our Rail Management Division and the trade fair have established a very strong position around the world. We appreciate the atmosphere here, and this year were once again able to maintain relations and establish new contacts with customers from Germany and abroad.“

Krzysztof Olszewski, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. (Poland): We are very satisfied with the fair. Our new Tramino low-floor tram met with a wide response. We were able to talk to a lot of trade journalists at the press conference. We are already looking forward to fulfilling the first 40 orders for trams and delivering them to the city of Poznan.“

In-Sung Park, Business Development Manager, Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency: “We are delighted that some of our companies were already able to conclude business during the fair. We expect to be back in 2012 with an even bigger stand.“

Sabina Berloffa, Vice President, Marketing & Communications, Kapsch CarrierCom AG (Austria): “This year was the first time that Kapsch CarrierCom was at InnoTrans as the GSM-R market leader. Kapsch recently took over parts of Nortel’s Carrier Networks Division. It was all the more important for us to be at one of the leading trade fairs for the industry, and the results confirmed our decision was right. The response to the presence of Kapsch at the fair and the numbers on our stand were outstanding. We had a lot of talks with customers, potential customers and stake holders and consider InnoTrans 2010 to have been a great success.“

Hans Leibbrand, CEO, Rail Signalling Solutions, Thales Ground Transportation Systems: “The fair was a big success for us. There are more and more decision-makers among our customers at InnoTrans every time. Presidents and company CEOs come here. We can meet people in senior positions without having to spend time on long trips.“

Holger Doth, Head of the Road/Rail Vehicles Division, Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks: “InnoTrans 2010 was an all-round success for us. We see a growing market potential internationally due to the economic efficiency and flexibility of road/rail vehicles. InnoTrans proved its worth for us as an ideal platform to showcase our technology to an expert international audience and as a place to establish new business contacts.“

Tomasz Zaboklicki, Managing Director, Pojazdy Szynowe PESA (Poland): “This was the fifth time for us that InnoTrans gave us an outstanding opportunity to meet competitors from around the world. The railway industry is growing, despite the recession. The increase yet again in exhibitors confirmed this. We were very satisfied with the way the fair went.”

The next InnoTrans will take place from 18 to 21 September 2012.