The rail industry

in Hauts-de-France

In Hauts-de-France, we’re at the heart of tomorrow’s transport systems. As the leader in France and a major player in Europe, our region has a robust, tightly-knit rail industry, anchored in a broad range of R&D skills. Its members include Alstom, Siemens and other world-class companies.

France plays a key role
in the European rail industry

Even as rolling-stock markets decline in Latin America, the Africa/Middle East region and the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries, their counterparts in Western Europe and the Asia-Pacific region are growing. And France is the world’s third-largest rail market, thanks to its tightly-woven rail ecosystem and major orders for regional and intercity trains.

#3 market worldwide, after China and Germany
€4bn in sales
30K jobs in the French rail industry
30% of all export production

Locate your business in
France’s #1 rail region

The international rail market is largely concentrated around the industry’s top two full-line suppliers and manufacturers worldwide: Germany’s Siemens and France’s own Alstom Transport—two leading players with a presence here in Hauts-de-France.

Their success has benefited a number of international equipment manufacturers as well as a multitude of second- and third-tier subcontractors.

4 world-class manufacturers in Hauts-de-France

urban transport, metros, interconnected regional and national transport

urban public transport

freight wagons

passenger train and freight equipment

Fast facts on the Hauts-de-France rail industry

world-class vehicle manufacturers

of all rail output in France

rail industry jobs

€ bn

in sales

specialized suppliers and subcontractors

Leading equipment and component manufacturers

Akiem: rail maintenance
Barat Sofanor: seats / interior fittings
Deprecq: sheet metal
Faiveley NSF: ventilation, heating and air conditioning
Forges de Fresnes: triangular brake beams for freight cars
MG-Valdunes: wheelsets and axles
Outreau Technologies: crossings
Railtech: welding equipment and technology
Stratiforme Compreforme Groupe: composite parts for locomotives and rail cars
Studia, Technifrance: consulting and research support

Finding talent & skills
in Hauts-de-France

Fast facts: Rail industry labor in Hauts-de-France

Total labor pool: 50,000 available workers
2,000 students enrolled in mobility-oriented programs
10% of French engineers are trained in Hauts-de-France

Advanced training in sustainable transport

Thanks to a wealth of rail training and education programs, Hauts-de-France is home to a broad pool of qualified labor.

We’ve got every kind of educational institution—from trade schools to universities and engineering schools—right here in the region, and they offer both higher education and vocational training.

Leading educational institutions:

ENSIAME, France’s national school of energy mechanics engineering in Valenciennes: 180 engineering graduates annually / specialized master’s degrees in rail and transport
ICAM (Catholic trades institute): 200 engineering graduates a year
HEI (school of advanced engineering studies): 300 engineering graduates a year
Opal Coast International Rail Training Center: a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eurotunnel Group and the first private training center dedicated to rail
SNCF Rail Driver Training Center in Lille: SNCF’s largest training center for train drivers in Europe”

Regional partners for
your rail project

Hauts-de-France has been a rail region from the beginning, giving the local industry time to organize, become more competitive and develop synergies.

Meet the key players who lead the industry and support rail development projects.

ERA: European Railway Agency

ERA is responsible for drafting the Technical Specification for Interoperability (TSI), a set of key technical standards applied throughout the European Union to make the European rail network fully interoperable.

Railway Industry Association (AIF)

The AIF (Association des Industries Ferroviaires) is dedicated to strengthening and promoting the rail industry in Hauts-de-France.

Railway Testing Centre (CEF)

The CEF (Centre d’Essais Ferroviaires) is a one-of-a-kind test track for locomotives, electric rail and metros.

CERTIFER

CERTIFER is France’s only rail certification authority, specializing in rail and guided transport. It’s also the world leader in independent safety assessments for rail and guided transport systems.

R&D support from
leading rail innovators

Hauts-de-France is the rail region par excellence, and many of the industry’s innovators have chosen us as the best R&D environment.

These pacesetters bring rail companies together and support research and development projects. Key players include:

TRANSALLEY

Tap the expertise of Transalley, a world-class industrial and scientific cluster, specializing in sustainable, innovative mobilities. It has also developed an ecosystem that sparks innovation, through incubation.

5 strategic goals:

Help rail and automotive companies succeed
Develop tomorrow’s rail infrastructures
Jump-start new mobility and logistics systems
Make testing and approval resources available to business
Look ahead to new forms of mobility and the business models they’ll bring with them

I-TRANS

Join I-Trans, a world-class cluster for sustainable transport. Its mission is to invent, design, produce and sell the transport systems of the future.

5 focus areas:

Rail freight
Passenger mobility
Rail infrastructure
Rail rolling stock
Automotive equipment

RAILENIUM

Need to test your equipment? Railenium is the institute for excellence in technology research—a European center for R&D, innovation and testing that specializes in rail infrastructure.

3 research areas:

Reduce investment costs for infrastructure, maintenance and renovation
Cut energy consumption and shrink carbon footprints
Expand the capacity of existing infrastructure and reduce disruptions to operations

4 test installations:

5-km test loop with a heavy train running at 120 km/h
Test track for urban rail transport
Rail-wheel test unit
Fatigue test track

CISIT

For questions about intermodality, ecodesign and safety in the transport industry, turn to the International Campus on Safety and Intermodality in Transportation (CISIT)—a pacesetter in the drive to build tomorrow’s vehicles and transport systems.

4 strategic goals: