One of the railway industries main actors, Hitachi Rail is one of this year’s exhibitors at Train & Rail.
We’ve had the opportunity to speak with Ulf Hammarbäck, Principal Sales Manager for the Nordic region at Hitachi Rail, regarding their participation at Train & Rail 2025.
What kind of company is Hitachi Rail and what do you do?
Hitachi Rail is a global provider of rail solutions and a trusted partner to the world’s best transport organisations. We employ around 24 000 people across more than 50 countries.
Our international capabilities and expertise span every part of the urban, mainline and freight rail ecosystems – from high quality manufacturing and maintenance of rolling stock to secure digital signalling, smart operations and payment systems.
In Nordic countries we partner with the main actors of the railways to modernize passengers and freight lines across the region. This includes the introduction of the ERTMS technology on main lines in Sweden, Denmark and Finland as well as the design and operation of the first driverless metro system in Copenhagen more than twenty years ago.
Why have you chosen to participate in Train & Rail 2025?
We did participate to the first edition in 2023 and as Train & Rail is taking the spot as the main event for our segment, we decided to prioritise it.
We see it as one of the most important railway events in northern Europe and it is a good arena for us to meet our clients, partners etc. So, for us it is important to participate at this event to showcase our capabilities, products and innovations
What is your objective with Train & Rail?
Of course, to meet up with the industry in the Nordic countries. It is mainly Swedish participants, but we know there will also be clients and partners coming from Norway, Finland and Denmark, too. So, there will be a lot of people to meet.
We also know there is a lot of younger people and students visiting this event, so it is an opportunity for us as the main supplier to talk to the next generation as well.
It is no secret that we need to attract new resources to the railway industry, especially since we have a huge demand not only in Sweden but in Europe in general.
We need to make the rail industry attractive !
Historically, the railways had a rather old image, but the industry has evolved and now uses very advanced technologies. We want to tell these young engineers that this is a diverse, interesting and challenging field of activity, to join.
What is the most important issue from your perspective for the future of railways and how are you currently working on this issue?
There is a lot of focus and technology both for the operation itself and the signalling that is the core for our company. But this is something that we know.
One of the major costs for the railway today is the infrastructure itself. This is an ongoing discussion in Sweden and there has been some new railway lines built and we will build more in the future. But most of the railway in Sweden was built 100 years ago.
Today, the integration of data and technology in rail operation, train control and signalling but also in maintenance is not just an enhancement but a necessity in the modern rail industry.
With its new HMAX platform, Hitachi is leveraging advanced data analytics, IoT devices and AI to significantly boost productivity and operational efficiency in the rail industry.
This is what we propose to our clients who can see this as a solution to increase the value of the investment made 100 years ago.
What do you want from industry colleagues and policy makers to enable society to meet the demand, financial constraints and climate goals of future rail transport?
If we look at the situation in recent years, the importance of the railway, its crucial role in economic growth, and its significant contribution to achieving climate goals are indisputable.
We see as highly positive the current developments decided by the government in Sweden, with a clear focus on accelerating the digitalization of the Swedish railway. Hitachi Rail fully supports this initiative and looks forward to being a strong partner in making it possible.