Railway Testing Market

The study involved four major activities in estimating the current size of the railway testing market. Exhaustive secondary research was done to collect information on the market, the peer market, and the parent market. The next step was to validate these findings, assumptions, and sizing with the industry experts across value chains through primary research. The top-down approach was employed to estimate the complete market size. Thereafter, market breakdown and data triangulation processes were used to estimate the market size of segments and subsegments.

Secondary Research

Secondary sources referred to for this research study included railway services and equipment for testing, test equipment and track measurment industry organizations [American Railway Association (ARA), Brazilian Association of the Railroad Suppliers (ABIFER), China Railway Society (CRS), China Academy of Railway Sciences (CARS), Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Indian Railway Conference Association (IRCA), Indian Railway Institute of Electrical Engineering (IRIEEN), International Union of Railways (UIC), Japan Association of Rolling Stock Industries (JARI), Mexican Association of Railway], corporate filings (such as annual reports, investor presentations, and financial statements), and company websites, whitepapers, and databases, and articles from recognized associations and government publishing sources. The secondary data was collected and analyzed to arrive at the overall market size, which was further validated by primary research.

Primary Research

Extensive primary research was conducted after acquiring an understanding of the railway testing market through secondary research. Several primary interviews were conducted with market experts from the demand side (railway operators, system integrators, country-level government associations, and trade associations) and supply side (OEMs and component manufacturers) across major regions, namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World. Approximately 40% and 60% of primary interviews were conducted from the demand and supply sides, respectively. The primary data was collected through questionnaires, emails, and telephonic interviews. In the canvassing of primaries, various departments within organizations, such as sales, operations, and administration, were considered to provide a holistic viewpoint in this report.

Brief sessions with highly experienced independent consultants were conducted to reinforce findings from primaries after interacting with industry experts. This, along with the in-house subject matter experts’ opinions, led to the findings, as described in the remainder of this report.

In the primary research process, various primary sources from the supply and demand sides were interviewed to obtain qualitative and quantitative information for the report. The primary sources from the supply side included industry experts, such as Vice Presidents (VPs), marketing directors, technology and innovation directors, and related key executives from various key companies and organizations. The primary sources from the demand side included end users, such as Chief Information Officers (CIOs), consultants, service professionals, technicians and technologists, and managers at public and investor-owned utilities.

Breakdown of Primaries

Note: Others include Sales Managers and Product Managers.

To know about the assumptions considered for the study, download the pdf brochure

Market Size Estimation

Top-Down Approach:

The top-down methodology was followed to estimate the size of the railway testing market by application. More than 80 companies were covered, and their railway-specific revenue was mapped after discussing with industry experts. Supply side analysis was done, by end use, for understanding the revenue size of railway rolling stock test equipment, track/infrastructure testing equipment, and other test equipment. Revenue share breakdown for each of these segments was mapped by considering the revenue share of respective companies, mapped & verified by industry experts. Market penetration was mapped at the regional level for rolling stock applications through secondary research, and insights were verified from industry experts. Segmentation for rolling stock applications was derived by multiplying the market size by the penetration. Similarly, segmentation was derived for the super-structured testing equipment (Rail mechanical testing equipment, electronics and DAQ testing equipment, switches/turnouts testing equipment, sleepers/crossties, fastenings testing equipment, track measurement equipment, other superstructure testing equipment) and electrification testing equipment (On-board electronics test equipment, contact lines test equipment, traction power supply & substation testing equipment, railway power supply testing equipment).

Data Triangulation

After arriving at the overall market size using the market size estimation processes as explained above, the market was split into several segments and subsegments. To complete the overall market engineering process and arrive at the exact statistics of each market segment and subsegment, data triangulation and market breakdown procedures were employed, wherever applicable. The data was triangulated by studying various factors and trends from both the demand and supply sides.