Rail traction: Value chain
Who builds the world's trains, and who owns the tracks
Who builds the world's trains, and who owns the tracks What this tab covers Who does what, from equipment makers to builders, owners, operators, traders and users, with the leading companies at each step.Rolling stock is a concentrated industry: the top ten makers took about 70% of a EUR 64.6 billion global market for new rail vehicles in 2024, led by CRRC, Alstom and Siemens Mobility. Diesel-electric freight locomotives are dominated by US makers.
The chain
Power electronics and traction components Rolling stock makers Diesel-electric and battery locomotive makers Infrastructure managers Train operators and users| Stage | What happens | Leading companies |
|---|---|---|
| Power electronics and traction components | Make traction converters, transformers and motors; large train makers also build their own traction equipment. No independent market ranking was found. | ABB (Switzerland)1 |
| Rolling stock makers | Design and build electric trains, metros and locomotives. | CRRC (China), railway equipment revenue RMB 123.6 billion in 2025 Alstom (France), rolling stock sales EUR 10.0 billion in 2025/26 Siemens Mobility (Germany) Stadler Rail (Switzerland) Hitachi Rail (Japan)678 |
| Diesel-electric and battery locomotive makers | Build heavy freight locomotives. Wabtec has more than 10,000 locomotives on its Evolution engine platform and reported 2025 sales of USD 11.17 billion with a USD 27 billion backlog. | Wabtec (United States) Progress Rail (Caterpillar, United States) CRRC (China)910126 |
| Infrastructure managers | Own the track, overhead line and substations and charge operators for access; they decide where to electrify. | 14 |
| Train operators and users | Passenger and freight operators run the trains: worldwide rail moved about 3.58 trillion passenger-km and 10.02 trillion tonne-km in UIC's survey. | 4 |
No ranking of infrastructure managers or operators was found in the sources used.
Sources
- Traction systems for high-power applications (brochure, Rev B) (company data) ABB, 2018
- Railway Statistics Synopsis, 2025 edition International Union of Railways (UIC), 2025
- Worldwide Rolling Stock Manufacturers 2025 (reading sample) SCI Verkehr, 2025
- CRRC 2025 annual results briefing in Hong Kong CRRC Corporation, 2026
- Alstom's fiscal year 2025/26 results Alstom, 2026
- Wabtec delivers strong fourth quarter 2025 results; announces 2026 full-year guidance Wabtec, 2026
- Advantage Wabtec: relentless innovation drives Evolution Series engines into the future Wabtec, 2025
- E-quipment highlight: 4,400 hp Wabtec FLXdrive electric locomotive Electrek, 2026
- Electrification Cost Challenge Railway Industry Association (RIA), 2019