UPDATE 1-Wabtec Q1 beats Wall Street

* Q1 EPS $0.63 vs est. $0.59

* Q1 rev down 4 pct

* Sees FY EPS $2.40-$2.50

April 27 (Reuters) - Wabtec Corp (WAB.N), a U.S. railcar parts and braking equipment maker, posted better-than-expected quarterly results, helped by an improving freight market, and raised the lower end of its 2010 earnings outlook.

Wabtec forecast full-year earnings of $2.40 a share to $2.50 a share, and expects revenue to be up slightly for the year.

It had previously forecast full-year earnings of $2.35 to $2.50 a share, with revenue flat to slightly up.

CEO Albert Neupaver said the company was beginning to see a positive effect on its after-market businesses, although the original equipment market still remained weak.

For the first quarter, the company reported net income of $30.4 million, or 63 cents a share, compared with $32.7 million, or 68 cents a share, a year ago.

The company, which also makes products for locomotives and passenger transit vehicles, posted a 4 percent fall in revenue for the quarter at $364 million.

Analysts on average were expecting the company to earn 59 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $351.5 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S..

Shares of the company closed at $50.42 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Fareha Khan and A.Ananthalakshmi in Bangalore; Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair) ((fareha.khan@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800 Reuters Messaging: fareha.khan.reuters.com@reuters.net))