SCI Verkehr, the German railway and logistics consultancy, has released a new edition of its World Market for Railway Technology that calls for global railway investment to increase from a currently estimated $168 billion to approximately $205 billion in 2015. Of the total, 53 percent is expected to come from after-sales.

Describing its new findings in the September issue of International Railway Journal, RT&S' and Railway Age's sister publication based in Falmouth, England, SCI Verkehr said it timed its updated forecast to coincide with the giant railway exhibition, Innotrans, in Berlin this month.

North American annual spending is expected to grow to $25 billion by 2015, a five percent increase. But China will be the champion investor.

"For the first time ever, China leads the top 10 [country] rankings in terms of investment in railway technology," says the report. "Major projects in the United States, India and the countries of South America, as well as in the Arabian economic area, are stimulating further growth. However, it is the Chinese railway technology manufacturers who are increasing their turnover and market share at a breathtaking speed, and more recently outside the domestic market."

The regional forecasts put total investment in Western Europe in 2015 at $50.6 billion, up 23.3 percent; in Asia, $43.7 billion, up 4.3 percent; in the former Soviet Union, $17.5 billion, up 4.9 percent; in Eastern Europe, $12.29 billion, up 2.9 percent; in Africa and the Middle East, $7.2 billion, up 5.6 percent; in Australia/Pacific, $3.7 billion, up 2.3 percent.