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voestalpine Railway Systems secures largest order in their company history

Press Kit zip | 41.66 MB

9 March 2023 |

voestalpine Railway Systems are the global leading supplier of complete railway systems, offering everything from the “hardware” (rails, turnouts, mountings, and sleepers) through to the digital monitoring of rail tracks and trains from a single source. Now the voestalpine Group subsidiary has secured its largest ever order worth around EUR 237 million (approx. GBP 210 million) for the design, supply, and servicing of turnouts, drives, and rail expansion joints including diagnostic systems for Great Britain’s new High Speed 2 rail network. voestalpine is also supplying other major projects worldwide with premium rails, high-speed turnouts, and signaling technology. In total, the order volumes amount to around EUR 600 million.

As the name suggests, Great Britain’s new High Speed 2 (HS2) is a high-speed rail link. It runs north-south, extends almost 275 km in length, and will have a transport capacity of up to 300,000 passengers a day. voestalpine Railway Systems will be supplying this high-tech line with around 320 turnout systems plus drives, as well as rail expansion joints including diagnostic and monitoring software which will continually record the condition of the infrastructure and report deviations in real time. This not only ensures that the highest safety standards are upheld, but also facilitates condition-based and predictive maintenance.

This record-breaking order once again proves the value of our strategy and our global competence in this segment. The Railway Systems segment has performed extremely well for many years.

Herbert Eibensteiner, CEO of voestalpine AG

Other current major orders worldwide

voestalpine has succeeded in securing other major international orders in the Railway Systems sector in addition to the project in Great Britain. voestalpine Railway Systems will supply turnouts and welded rails for Australia’s Sydney Trains over the next five years: the contract, worth over EUR 220 million, extends the existing cooperation in the Sydney metropolis for a further five years.

voestalpine Railway Systems is also supplying Egypt’s first high-speed line (Green Line) with around 260 high-speed turnouts including turnout maintenance software. The order volume for this prestigious project amounts to EUR 42.5 million. The company and the Egyptian state railway have recently announced a joint venture to produce high-performance turnouts in Cairo. Egypt is regarded as the most dynamic railway market in Africa.

High-performance turnouts from voestalpine Railway Systems are being used to upgrade the Adriatic—Black Sea line. Investments are also being made to modernize the railway infrastructure in Bosnia-Herzegovina. voestalpine Railway Systems is producing a total of 3,000 tons of rails for the tram network in the capital Sarajevo. The total project volume is around EUR 20 million.

Complete provider of fully digital rail tracks

In the business year 2021/22, voestalpine Railway Systems generated revenue of EUR 1.5 billion at its 70 production and sales sites worldwide. Around 7,200 employees work in this segment, 1,500 of whom are based in Austria.

voestalpine Railway Systems are the global leading provider of system solutions for railway infrastructure. We supply rails, turnouts, mounting systems, and signaling technology from a single source, allowing us to offer our customers railway infrastructure solutions that meet their specific needs.

Franz Kainersdorfer, Member of the Management Board of voestalpine AG and Head of the Metal Engineering Division

Kainersdorfer sees potential for growth in the field of digitalization which is an essential factor in increasing track availability.

Metal Engineering Division

With its Railway Systems business unit, the Metal Engineering Division of the voestalpine Group is the global market leader for railway infrastructure systems and signaling technology. With its Industrial Systems business unit, the division is also the European market leader for quality wire and global provider of full welding solutions. And it supplies seamless tubes all over the world from the Kindberg location in Austria. Customers include the railway infrastructure industry, the oil and gas industry, the machinery industry, the automotive industry, and the construction industry. As part of the greentec steel program, the Metal Engineering Division is already intensively working on and researching various innovative, climate-friendly technologies and production processes. In the business year 2021/22 the division generated about EUR 3.4 billion in revenue with its Railway Systems and Industrial Systems business units; over 40% of this revenue was generated outside Europe. The division recorded an operating profit (EBITDA) of EUR 406 million and employed around 13,500 people worldwide.

The voestalpine Group

voestalpine is a globally leading steel and technology group with a unique combination of materials and processing expertise. voestalpine, which operates globally, has around 500 Group companies and locations in more than 50 countries on all five continents. It has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since 1995. With its premium products and system solutions, voestalpine is a leading partner to the automotive and consumer goods industries, as well as to the aerospace and oil & natural gas industries. The company is also the global market leader in railway systems, tool steel, and special sections. voestalpine is committed to the global climate goals and has a clear plan for decarbonizing steel production with its greentec steel program. In the business year 2021/22, the Group generated revenue of EUR 14.9 billion, with an operating result (EBITDA) of EUR 2.3 billion; it has around 50,200 employees worldwide.

Press Kit zip | 41.66 MB