The Swiss company Stadler Rail (
www.stadlerrail.com) has confirmed the establishment of Stadler Australia, which will operate out of Sydney in order to bid for tenders and develop the rail market in that part of the world.
The timing could not be better, as the Australian government is about to begin investing in transport infrastructure, which will boost the expansion of rail transport in the country. Stadler Rail will be participating in a number of tenders in the next few months.
Peter Jenelten, a member of Stadler Rail’s group executive board and head of marketing and sales, said: “Australia and the Asia-Pacific region present the company with exceptional new business opportunities.
“The announcement by Australia’s Prime Minister that the government wants to invest federal funds in the transport infrastructure for the first time ever is an important development. These funds will be used to launch new rail transport projects across the entire continent.”
Stadler Rail hopes to found a joint venture in Australia to oversee the final assembly process, with the Swiss or European part of the rolling stock imported by ship.
Because of the company’s focus on Europe, it was impacted by the European debt crisis in 2010 and the subsequent currency hits in 2012 and 2015; and while half of the company’s 6,000 employees are based in Switzerland and more than half of its production is exported, consolidation occurs in Swiss francs — a factor that caused the recent loss of turnover estimated at between CHF 200 and 300 million.
The company reacted to this situation with plans to expand into new market segments, such as high-speed trains, underground trains and locomotives.
This strategy is already proving to be effective: Stadler has already won a high-speed contract with Swiss Federal Railways, as well as a project with the Berlin Metro.
Another development has seen it take over the running of Vossloh’s locomotive plant in Valencia.