Against the backdrop of globalization, being based on the domestic market and proactively expanding international business can help enterprises make full use of their own advantages and resources on hand to better meet domestic and foreign market consumer demands, and economically control operating costs, so as to obtain more operating benefits whenever possible.
In general, after decades of operation expansion, the international business of railway transport enterprises of major countries has gradually taken shape. The business pattern characterized by the core of main railway transport business and the horizontal and vertical synergic expansion in related fields has been formed, covering design, consulting, asset operation and development, logistics, and urban public transport services; the target market system relying on adjacent and neighboring countries and the regions and serving the world is established; the operating income significantly increases and becomes an important income source of enterprises.
Currently, there are about 300 railway transport enterprises in German railway market, and DB AG stands at an absolutely leading position. DB AG's international business covers multiple fields such as non-railway passenger and freight transport, logistics, engineering and consulting. The overseas income exceeded 40% of total revenue over many years. In the field of passenger transport, it provides long-distance cross-border railway transport services, operating about 260 international routes every day covering almost all neighboring countries. Meanwhile, it provides overseas short-distance passenger transport services, including urban passenger transport such as intercity railways, metro lines, and buses. In the field of freight transport, it mainly provides railway freight transport services in other European countries, and on this basis provides cross-border railway freight transport services. In the field of logistics, it mainly develops road, aviation, sea transport and contracted logistics business. In the field of engineering and consulting, it actively undertakes design, consulting and supervision projects of overseas railways.
SNCF is the only state-owned railway transport enterprise of France. It monopolizes the railway passenger transport. However, in the field of freight transport, it needs to compete fairly with other transport companies. Its overseas operation activities involve passenger and freight transport, logistics, design and consulting. In the field of passenger transport, the company provides cross-border high-speed train services, such as Eurostar to the United Kingdom, Thalys to Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, and Lyria to Switzerland. Meanwhile it provides urban passenger services, such as bus service in Skandinavia and the United States, coach service in Canada and Belgium, trolley service in Australia and the United Kingdom, taxi service in Switzerland, metro service in India. In addition, it provides long-distance coach service from France to other large European cities. In the field of freight transport, its business includes overseas railway freight transport and multimodal transport. In the field of logistics, its business involves the full logistics chain, as well as sea transport, air freight forwarding, and locomotive leasing. In the field of design and consulting, its business includes railway engineering design and urban planning. In addition, it provides management consulting, such as promoting marketing techniques in revenue management and customer management with other countries to help them improve the ridership and provide training services for technical personnel.
Japan has about 160 railway passenger transport companies. JR-East runs the operations mainly in eastern Japan, monopolizing the operation of the largest Shinkansen railway network in Japan. In recent years, JR-East has made efforts to expand overseas business. It has established an internal operation mechanism for "overseas business development". In the future, it will work with related Japanese manufacturers to develop overseas business and improve profit margin for enterprises. For example, JR-East, Mitsui and other companies established a joint venture Abellio which won the West Midlands rail franchise in 2017. It also cooperated with other JR companies and equipment manufacturers and established a consortium to promote the railway equipment manufacturing going global.
Russian Railways (RZD) operates the third largest railway network in the world. Its planning layout in the Russian market mainly focuses on improving transport capacity, including strengthening infrastructure construction and renovation, developing fast-speed and high-speed transport, developing heavy-haul transport, and enhancing the railway network in the eastern region. RZD started to expand its foreign markets in 2004 and now has 12 representative offices abroad, providing passenger transport services in 20 European and Asian countries. To achieve the goal of improving its competitiveness in the global transport business, RZD plans to vigorously expand the transport and logistics business as well as international engineering and transport construction projects in Eurasia. The international engineering and transport construction projects are particularly important. Its target areas include the Commonwealth of Independent States, Eastern Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and Near East countries. Its goal is to provide integrated services in the international railway infrastructure project market by 2030 and become a leading enterprise.
