InnoTrans 2026 draws 175,000 visitors, but premieres fall to 180 from 226 in 2024
InnoTrans 2026 closed in Berlin with approximately 175,000 trade visitors in preliminary counts, over 5,000 more than in 2024, yet it staged 180 world premieres against 226 two years earlier.
Messe Berlin, the organiser, released the preliminary results on 25 September, the last day of the four-day fair, and presented both the visitor and the exhibitor totals as records in the event’s 30-year history. The 2026 show was the 15th edition of the biennial fair. According to the organiser, a representative survey of participants put satisfaction above 90%.
How the headline numbers moved against 2024
Exhibitors reached 3,190 from 59 countries, including 750 companies taking part for the first time. The release put the increase at about 200 exhibitors, while Messe Berlin’s preliminary summary for 2024 listed 2,940 exhibitors, a gap of 250. The number of exhibitor countries stayed at 59.
All 42 halls and the 200,000-square-metre exhibition grounds were fully booked, as the halls and the outdoor area had also been in 2024. Visitors came from more than 120 countries, a figure given only as a lower bound, compared with 133 countries in the 2024 preliminary summary. The 2026 release lists international reach among the records but gives no exact country count.
Two other measures fell. World premieres numbered 180, against 226 in 2024, and exhibitors showed 113 vehicles from 17 countries outdoors and on the track area, compared with 133 vehicles two years earlier. The 2024 summary described the 133 vehicles on 3,500 metres of track and the 11 buses of the Bus Display separately. The 2026 release does not say whether buses are counted, so the vehicle comparison may not be exact.
Final 2024 counts and the 2018 results
Preliminary totals can shift, as the last edition shows. Messe Berlin’s final data for 2024 give 169,214 visitors from 128 countries and 2,946 exhibitors, against the preliminary 170,000 visitors from 133 countries and 2,940 exhibitors. In its closing release for InnoTrans 2018, Messe Berlin reported 3,062 exhibitors from 61 countries and 153,421 trade visitors from 149 countries among 161,157 attendees on the trade visitor days. That edition showed 155 world premieres and 155 vehicles. Against both earlier editions, the 2026 exhibitor and visitor totals are higher. The count of exhibitor countries is level with 2024 and below 2018, and the 2026 visitor-country figure, given only as more than 120, cannot be ranked exactly.
| Measure | 2018 | 2024, preliminary | 2024, final | 2026, preliminary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visitors | 153,421 trade visitors (161,157 attendees on the trade visitor days) | Around 170,000 | 169,214 | Approximately 175,000 trade visitors |
| Visitor countries | 149 | 133 | 128 | More than 120 |
| Exhibitors | 3,062 | 2,940 | 2,946 | 3,190 |
| Exhibitor countries | 61 | 59 | 59 | 59 |
| World premieres | 155 | 226 | Not listed on the Facts & Figures page | 180 |
| Vehicles on display | 155 | 133 on the track area, with 11 buses shown separately in the Bus Display | 133, including 11 buses | 113, bus inclusion not stated |
The 2026 exhibitor and visitor totals are above both earlier editions. World premieres are below the 2024 level but above 2018, vehicles on display are below both, and exhibitor countries are level with 2024 and below 2018. The 2026 figures are preliminary, and the 2026 visitor-country figure is given only as a lower bound.
Sources: Messe Berlin, closing release for InnoTrans 2018, preliminary summary for 2024, Facts & Figures page with final 2024 data and preliminary conclusion for 2026.
Hybrid, hydrogen and software-defined vehicles on the tracks
CRRC used the fair for the world premiere of a hybrid locomotive. Stadler displayed a hydrogen-powered narrow-gauge train, and Siemens Mobility presented a software-defined locomotive platform. Digitalisation, automation and cybersecurity were among the other main themes named by the organiser.
Ukrainian companies were also on the exhibitor list. The official exhibition catalogue named 21 of them, Railway Supply reported before the fair. Ten were announced for the National Pavilion of Ukraine, which the state Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office organised, and 11 were listed as independent exhibitors, among them Kryukovsky Railway Car Building Works, Techvagonmash and TAS Dniprovagonmash. Railway Supply acted as media partner for Ukraine’s exhibition.
Artificial intelligence on the programme and on the stands
Artificial intelligence got its own programme items: the first AI on Track hackathon and the AI Mobility Lab, an exhibition area Messe Berlin introduced in 2024. Alstom showed “Talk to my train”, an AI assistant intended to help maintenance staff find and fix train faults faster.
“Over the past two years, AI has evolved from a trending topic into the single most dominant topic of conversation,” said InnoTrans Director Kerstin Schulz. The organiser had already named AI as the main topic of the 2024 fair, when 42 exhibitors from 17 countries presented work on AI, robotics, cybersecurity and data protection in the new AI Mobility Lab.
Industry groups call for backing to deploy the technology
Several industry associations used their closing statements to push for faster rollout. Wolfgang Weber, chairman of the executive board of the German Electrical and Digital Industries Association, said manufacturers already have solutions for the ETCS rollout, digital automatic coupling and autonomous driving. “Now they need political backing to ensure that this translates into momentum for modernisation and implementation,” he said.
Enno Wiebe, director general of UNIFE, said the association is pressing for a successor to the Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking. The InnoTrans Convention also hosted the Rail Leaders’ Summit, the kickoff event of the European infrastructure association ENIM and the European-African Industry Dialogue. Messe Berlin will hold InnoTrans Asia at the Singapore EXPO grounds from 7 to 9 September 2027.
