A Train-Centric Revolution is upon us – made possible by the ever-growing list of advanced technologies that allow functionality, once relegated to legacy wayside systems, to be transformed by the Communication-Based Smart Trains. Around the world smart systems are being bundled and deployed with very little impact to existing equipment and streamlining the time and efforts demanded for greenfield projects. Robert’s presentation will focus on the benefits of this revolution for transportation agencies including: cost savings from lightweight sensors, maintenance free integration, improved operations during inclement weather, more reliable integration, connectivity with wayside equipment, and improved system safety for operations and perimeter security.

The public transport industry has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdown measures adopted by goverments to control the virus had significant short-term effects but, the subsequent effects on the economy and social behaviours remain uncertain. The Rail Innovation Group will explore the emerging trends throught the lens of the market, customer-demand and operational needs, and what this will mean for the future of travel.

Open Control Command and Signalling (CCS) Onboard Reference Architecture. OCORA initiative, whose members are DB, NS, ÖBB, SBB and SNCF, aims to reduce life-cycle costs and facilitate the introduction of innovation and digital technologies by establishing a modular, upgradeable, reliable and safe CCS on-board architecture. The OCORA proposal is a scalable approach for an open architecture based on building blocks and their open interfaces (ETCS based ATP, ATO, train localization).

An introduction to the Fiber Optic Sensing Association (FOSA) and Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing (DFOS) concepts with relevance in rail applications, and a comprehensive description of what can be detected when applying relevant DFOS methods to rail.

• Test runs with GoA2 of SBB

• Effects on schedule stability and punctuality

• Energy savings potential

• Benefits in dense traffic

H2020 funded project regrouping rail and aviation stakeholders. The project aims at bringing concept induced from aviation to rail in order to design and prototype a train fail-safe onboard localisation unit based on multisensory data fusion and the safe European augmentation service EGNOS.

In parallel, work is also produced for detailing the necessary steps and tools that would be necessary to certify such a system. Eventually, the performance and feasibility of such navigation unit is demonstrated with the help of three test trains used to record of the necessary sensor data.

The European Agency for the Space program (EUSPA) will provide an overview of the roadmap for satellite positioning in railway.

• How can space-based data unlock new potential applications for the Railway industry?

• Capturing the right kind of data for your service improvement.

• How far developed are these solutions for commercial viability?

• Call to action for the industry: how we can work together to bring space-based applications to railway operations

Project funded by ADEME (French agency for environment) regrouping IxBlue, GeoFlex/CNES, and SNCF to develop a fail-safe navigation system for trains. The system is defined based on the already existing INS technology of Ixblue and GNSS technology of Geoflex/CNES (PPP-wizard filter), which are merged. The system is built from the ground: definition of system and mission requirements, RAMS analysis, system implementation, data recording and tests.

• How to design a customer value model and align values to your business goals.

• Where to prepare for digital transformation projects and how to align goals with the transformation plan

• Main stages and best practices used in planning and executing digital transformation project(s)

As companies become increasingly digitalised there is an increased risk of their safety or security being threatened. This session will consider the ways that companies can prevent attacks to their security and maintain a high level of security considering the increase in their assets and operations become digitalised.

• In a world that relies heavily on digital assets, how damaging could a severe cyber-attack potentially be?

• How has the threat of cyber-attacks developed over recent years with the constant modernization of data and technological capabilities?

• How can transport companies improve their capabilities to prevent against the threat of potentially very dangerous cyber-attacks?