(Corrects date in 4th paragraph to …year that ended in March 2009 … instead of … April 2009)

Stocks

* Railway op revenue was Y176.7 bln in 2008/09

* Aims for overseas sales ratio of over 60 pct in 2015/16

(Adds background, share price)

TOKYO, March 29 (Reuters) – Japan’s Hitachi Ltd (6501.T) said on Monday it aims to double sales from its railway-related business in the next six years, as the electronics conglomerate tries to tap growing demand in overseas markets.

Hitachi and rivals are stepping up overseas marketing efforts as emerging economies, such as Brazil and Vietnam, and the United States plan to build high-speed railway systems as environmentally friendly alternatives to air and road travel.

Hitachi competes with Germany’s Siemens (SIEGn.DE), Canada’s Bombardier (BBDb.TO) and France’s Alstom (ALSO.PA) in railway systems. Its domestic rivals include Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd (7012.T) and Nippon Sharyo Ltd (7102.T).

Hitachi said it aims for 350 billion yen ($3.8 billion) of sales in railway-related business in the year starting in April 2015, up from 176.7 billion yen posted in the financial year that ended in March 2009.

The company also said it targets an operating margin of 8 percent for the business and that it expects to get more than 60 percent of the unit’s revenue from overseas in the financial year starting in April 2015.

Hitachi’s railway business posted losses in the previous fiscal year, when overseas sales accounted for about 20 percent of its operations.

Shares of Hitachi rose 3.6 percent to 341 yen, outperforming a 0.5 percent decline in the benchmark Nikkei average .N225. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Joseph Radford)