Railway Sliding Bearing Market Size, Share, and COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Type (Thrust, Radial, and Others) By Application (Engine, Brakes, Bogie, and Others), By Material (Metallic and Non-Metallic), and Regional Forecast, 2024-2032

Sliding bearing, also known as journal bearing or friction bearing, is the simplest type, which comprises just a bearing surface and no rolling components. Bearings assist the rotation of the shaft, reduce friction, and make the rotation smoother while assuring the correct position of the rotating shaft.

The burgeoning demand for custom-designed locomotives and wagons to augment freight movement between the nations will help expand the railway market. There is a continuous expansion of trans-border railway freight services amongst nations, further strengthening the railway component manufacturing industries.

With rising population density and urbanization, there is an increase in office goers, leading to heavy congestion in the roadways. Consumers continuously shift their commuting means to metros and railways to circumvent this chaos, significantly propelling the railway sliding bearing market. Additionally, nations are investing heavily in developing transportation infrastructure, such as high-speed rail networks and metros, to provide quick and comfortable rides to passengers.

The growing awareness of environmental concerns is slowly migrating countries to opt for a greener alternative, i.e., electric locomotive, and adopting electric locomotive may suppress the need for engine sliding bearings. As the transportation industry moves towards electrification and automation, the sliding engine bearing need may be pulled into the back seat.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Railway Sliding Bearing Market

The pandemic introduced a temporary shutdown in many sectors. This temporary shutdown impacted various industries negatively, leading to revenue decline, loss of product sales, slowed production rate, unemployment, and many other severe impacts. This led to an economic downturn as the majority of the manufacturing facilities were suspended or working at half capacity.

The growth of the railway sliding bearing market is positively correlated to the rising demand for overall railways as a means of transportation. As COVID-19 hit the world in early 2020, all the major economies had multiple setbacks due to lockdowns and supply chain bottlenecks. FY-20 and FY-21 were highly dissatisfied with the travel and transportation market because people had completely refrained from leisure trips, and the work-from-home culture has significantly reduced the number of office goers, leading to plummeting demand for railways for commuting.

Industrial activities globally were paused, leading to lesser production and shipments of goods globally. Reduced output has lowered the need to transport goods, resulting in a deteriorating demand for the railway sliding bearing market. The closure of production plants and shortage of workforce due to stricter social distancing norms also affected production. Another issue was regarding the procurement of raw materials. The supply chain tailback affected the companies to procure sufficient raw materials to meet their production needs, and at the same time, the elevated inflation has significantly raised the cost of production.

Segmentation

Key Insights

The report will cover the following key insights:

• Key Industry Developments – Mergers, Acquisitions, and Partnerships


• Porter's Five Forces Analysis


• Technological Developments


• Impact of COVID-19 on the railway sliding bearing market

Regional Analysis

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The Asia Pacific region is predicted to dominate the railway sliding bearing market over the coming years. Multiple factors that strengthens the notion of Asia Pacific being the leader include the rising populace migrating to the middle-income bracket, urbanization, increasing office goers, presence of rail manufacturers in China and Japan, cheap access to labor, the advent of 5G, and proliferation in technology adoption, and others. Additionally, Asia Pacific's growth is optimistic as Japan, China, and India are investing heavily to expand their railway infrastructure by introducing super-fast rails, bullet trains, and metro for greater commuter convenience, resulting in a proliferation in the railway sliding bearing market.

Key Players Covered

The report includes the profiles of key players such as NSK Ltd., The Timken Company, JTEKT Corporation, MinebeaMitsumi Inc., RBC Bearings Incorporated, GGB Bearings, National Engineering Industries Ltd., Amsted Rail Company, NTN Corporation, Schaeffler Group, SKG AB, Canam Group Inc., and Fujian Longxi Bearing Group.

Key Industry Developments

• March 2019 – ATS and SKF started working together to create solutions to lower the life cycle costs of rail freight. To decrease on-track breakdowns and facilitate predictive maintenance, both decided to work together on a new two-piece bogie system with high-capacity wheel bearings.