Driven by the allure of fast and cleaner travel, a big expansion of Europe's high-speed rail network over the next five years at a cost of some $115 billion promises a boom time for contractors and suppliers.
With some 3,900 km of track under construction and another 8,500 km planned, at an average cost of €12 million per km, and some 1,200 new trains required in the next five years costing up to €25 million per train, the contracts up for grabs across the continent are worth billions of euros.
In France alone there are some €10 billion worth of such projects, which spells good news for Europe's major public works groups such as Vinci, Ferrovial, Astaldi and Hochtief.
Since the world's first high-speed train ran in Japan in 1964 between Tokyo and Osaka, rail lines on which trains can reach speeds of more than 250 km per hour have spread across Europe, totalling 6,000 km, while some older lines have been upgraded to allow for speeds of 200 km per hour.
The 50-per cent expansion now planned has been driven by governments under pressure to find viable, environmentally friendly alternatives to air and road travel while at the same time stimulating economic activity through capital spending.
"Unlike any other mode of transport, after 12 years high-speed rail becomes carbon-neutral," said Michael Robson, secretary-general of European Rail Infrastructure Managers, a group representing independent rail managers.
"It also occupies per km less than half the land that motorways require. It is seen as very modern and, unlike airports, where airplanes disappear into the air, it has a tangible infrastructure, which people like."
However, private train operators looking to move into the international passenger rail services market following the European Union's liberalisation of the sector from Jan. 1 will still face a system favouring state-owned firms that already own many trains and can afford the fees that are levied to use such costly infrastructure.
"Beyond the investment in rolling stock, the main challenge for newcomers to enter the high-speed rail market will undoubtedly be the level of track access charges they will have to pay to infrastructure managers," said Jacques Diran from the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies.
Operators owned mostly by national railways such as France's SNCF and Germany's Deutsche Bahn dominate the European sector, backed by governments that see high-speed rail as a popular, non-controversial and sustainable mode of transport.
Compared with conventional track, high-speed rail requires special lines, special trains and special signalling systems, offering new opportunities for companies to build, supply and operate the railways.
Some builders, such as Britain's Balfour Beatty, are expanding abroad by forming specialist rail divisions while others, such as Vinci, have been looking to expand their rail services portfolio through acquisitions.
When it comes to trains, however, only a few manufacturers have the expertise to capitalise on the growing market. They are led by France's Alstom, whose AGV train is seen as a successor to the TGV, while other European companies active in the rolling stock market are Siemens, Ansaldo, CAF and Talgo. Canada's Bombardier and Japanese companies such as Hitachi and Mitsubishi are also looking to make inroads in Europe.
On the operational front, Europe's high-speed rail network is dominated by Rail Team, a marketing coalition of national rail operators, posing a challenge as an established incumbent to the market's liberalisation that is expected next year.
The only European operator currently in private hands that aspires to play such a role is Italy's Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori, which is keen to compete on an open-access basis with other operators for passengers on the same line.
The company, which is chaired by Luca di Montezemelo, also chairman of Ferrari and Fiat, is owned by private investors, although France's SNCF holds a 20 per cent stake.