European Railroad Discussion > Berlin, Germany: Innotrans 2014

If there is one trade fair that _none_ of the train and railroad equipment and technology manufacturers wish to miss, it is the biyearly Innotrans fair in Berlin, Germany. To give you an idea of size and importance of this event here are the numbers:

- 150'000 visitors from over 100 countries (+10% from 2012)
- 2758 exhibitors from 55 countries
- 145 vehicles on outdoor display
- 140 World premieres for equipment
- Countless deals closed

I had a chance to visit the fair briefly on Saturday public day, but fortunately many train builders still had their staff on stands willing to discuss interesting questions for thousandth time.

I will cover Innotrans 2014 highlights here on trainorders about once a week and at http://4rail.net/index.php little by little about three times per week. It takes time to develop some of the 1870 pictures I took for the enjoyment of my co rail pros and railfans ;)

1-2) The fair grounds in Berlin are massive, but still dwarfed by the needs of Innotrans. It looks like they had a new building finished for this year (behind the flying flags). The fair grounds are served by 2 - 3 local train stations to divide the load a bit more evenly. Yet, there was an enormous crowd of people trying to get to Innotrans first in the morning even this year. This is actually the only chance to get pictures of some vehicles without excessive crowding around them. In the first picture a train load of visitors is marching to the entrance.

3) Looks like the "Ampelmen" from the pedestrian green light signs were visiting too... this is one of the interesting East German features that survived well to the modern era.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/14 00:13 by McKey.

---

---

---

4) To amuse the visitors Innotrans also has a marching band welcoming visitors in this picture. A typical German marching band music sounds cool here too!

5) Before going deeper into the subjects, and showing the around classic 10 German vintage vehicles too, here is the number one attraction for Innotrans 2014: Bombardier Monorail! This vehicle is actually going to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia after the fair. I talked with Bombardier on the vehicle and it looks to me that besides the sleek lines shown here it also has a number of ingenious design features for example to campaign desert sand. The manufacturer also says the Monorail is a lot quieter than a normal train. Well, we will see.

If any of you visited the fair, why not post your findings to trainorders too?

More from Innotrans a little bit later.

---

---

McKey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If any of you visited the fair, why not post your
> findings to trainorders too?

Hi John,

Thanks for this first installment of your InnoTrans report I was eagerly awaiting! Looks like that the public days on Saturday and Sunday have been much more crowded than the days reserved for trade visitors. Esp. the Friday I went was quite quiet, inside the halls and outside. I will also cover some of the topics I found interesting here on Trainorders shortly, but like with you, it takes time to wade through the heaps of pictures.

Thanks, E111

It was crowded, the manufacturers told the early last week was busy too, so visiting Thursday-Friday made most sense. I would had too if I only had gotten the airline ticket for that day.

I look forward to seeing your Innotrans pictures here!


E111 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Looks like that the public days on Saturday and Sunday
> have been much more crowded than the days reserved
> for trade visitors. Esp. the Friday I went was
> quite quiet, inside the halls and outside. I will
> also cover some of the topics I found interesting
> here on Trainorders shortly, but like with you, it
> takes time to wade through the heaps of pictures.
>
> Thanks, E111

having a 4 weeks in Germany Switzerland and Italy in November

will post trip report here when i return



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/14 03:07 by bakersfielddave.

Please do! And, have fun training!

bakersfielddave Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> having a 4 weeks in Germany Switzerland and Italy
> in November
>
> will post trip report here when i return