Digital & Automatic Up To Automated Train Operations

The solutions to be delivered by this action are expected to cover a wide range of applications for the next generation Automatic Train Control (ATC) technologies, such as passenger trains for high speed, light rail urban lines, suburban lines, freight trains and regional lines including low density lines as well as including application in more complex situations, such as mixed traffic, power supply transitions and ATP transitions (e.g. ETCS to undefined tracks).

The Flagship Project stemming from this topic is expected to contribute to Europe’s Rail Programme with the following outcomes, to be delivered on the basis of results stemming from Phase 1 of Europe’s Rail programme (FP2-R2DATO – GA number 101102001^[1]) and appropriately developed further in close coordination with the EU-RAIL System Pillar:

• Implementation of operational solutions to be demonstrated in specific use cases through demonstrators and technical enablers up to TRL7.
• To secure investments and ensure a clear migration path, the next generation ATC shall support backwards compatibility for all automation levels. Furthermore, the overarching automation process shall also support end-to-end customer solutions independent from the existing infrastructure, to guarantee the automation of the operation over the entire value chain. In addition to the modularisation of the functionality of the ATC systems, the decoupling of software from hardware will pave the way for a modular hardware platform. Upgradeability shall be a clear goal. Special attention shall be given to the cost effectiveness of the solutions regarding maintainability and evolvability as well as taking into account retrofitting aspects where relevant.
• The following additional operational scenarios shall be considered in the development of the required technical enablers, services and functions:
• Mixed operation for radio based ERTMS on lines with/without (mixed situation) Trackside Train Detection (TTD),
• Train Integrity Monitoring System (TIMS) and localisation capabilities for different target configurations. To pave the way for an improved, faster infrastructure change from Class B to the previously defined scenarios with focus on shortening effort, prerequisites and duration (including simplified safety case effort, e.g., for changes) including integration with the modular ATC systems and the TMS.
• “Fully mature ERTMS”: full supervision (cab signalling) continuously in all normal modes, also for shunting, or for yellow fleet movements.
• The same architecture shall be used for efficient processes for train stabling, formation and preparation, as well as in marshalling yards, depots or terminals in connection with their specialized technologies for passenger and freight trains.
• Georedundant ATC deployments for increased resilience in rail operations.
• Urban light rail automated operations.

The demonstrations of the innovative solutions shall take into consideration interoperability aspects, challenging topology, system resilience and climate situations across Europe to demonstrate and assess the full impact of the next-generation ATC. This Destination shall deliver by 2028 at least the following:

• Demonstration of ATO GoA3/4 – over ETCS and on non-supervised lines in the following scenarios (TRL7) including elements of remote driving (TRL6) and perception (TRL6)^[2]:
  • Depot, yards and specific lines (private or segregated)
  • shunting and stabling operations
  • mainline (protected by ETCS) and regional
  • light rail urban transport
  • other type of vehicles (e.g. maintenance)
• Demonstration of Hybrid Train Detection (TRL6), moving block (TRL6) and TIMS (TRL7), Satellite Communication (TRL4), Advanced Safe Train Positionning (TRL6), automated functions (TRL6) and digital register (TRL6).
• Demonstrations (vary from TRL3 up to TRL6 depending on the test case possibly in different laboratories and test sites) on new generations ATC supported by harmonised operational and engineering requirements, when applicable and possible with modular onboard and trackside ATC and platform architectures, in close collaboration with the EU-Rail System Pillar and, if relevant, EU-Rail deployment group. Demonstrations shall concentrate on solutions delivering functional stability and early return on investments.
• Demonstrate ACS/FRMCS adaptation for Wireless Object Controller (linked to FA6) and for monitoring systems (linked to FA3) (TRL6). This can include aspects related to Adaptation for Multi connectivity (FRMCS/ACS) for Object Controller and monitoring system, Wayside communication through perception to onboard.
• Demonstrate the Multiconnectivity Platform (TRL6): improve the concept of the Multiconnectivity Platform (Formerly ACS) to allow for radio bearers such as Gigabit radio or satellite connectivity, and different applications with FRMCS interfaces (TSapp, OBapp...), both critical, business or performance-related, that are not yet considered in the existing FRMCS specifications.
• A demonstration of next generation braking subsystems (TRL6)
• Demonstrations for the following technical enablers:
  • Virtual Coupling Train Set (TRL5)
  • Self-driving wagon (TRL 5)
  • autonomous route setting (TRL5)
  • validation and (virtual) certification (TRL6)

Finally, the action shall cover important preparatory works to be launched for the future set of demonstration foreseen in the MAWP in view of the finalisation of the technical work of Flagship Area 2 (Phase 3):

• Preparation for integrated demonstration of different technical enablers in order to prove the expected performance improvements at system level, in different operational scenarios. In addition, it is expected that the action will also prepare common demonstrations with other Flagship Areas (FA1, FA3, FA5 and the TT) in addition to preparing the next and final maturity increase of the above-mentioned technical enablers.
• Moreover, the Flagship Project to be funded under this topic shall prepare demonstration and validation activities that shall be conducted as part of Flagship Area 2 (Phase 3) and that are related to FRMCS optimizations and enhancements subject to FRMCS V3 specifications, e.g., such as defined in the System Pillar FRMCS report¹⁷ and that are not covered with FRMCS V3 specifications. This work shall build up on FP2-MORANE-2 (GA n°101196125) and requires that timeline and content are strictly aligned and complementary with FP2-MORANE-2. Preparational activities of EU-Flagship Area 2 (Phase 3) can include the creation of test specification documents as well as the staging of test tracks and onboard equipment for validations.

The action to be funded under this Destination also needs to provide the following necessary element for the demonstrations under the action to be funded under Destination 5, Sustainable Competitive Digital Green Rail Freight Services, to be delivered for 2028 demonstration: enablers 1, 3, 4, 7 and as described under the Scope section of this Destination. In addition of the above, the proposal shall cover important preparatory works needs to be launched for the future set of FA5 demonstration foreseen in the Multi- annual Work programme in view of the evolutions of the solutions, linked to these same enablers , at higher TRL.

The action to be funded under this Destination also needs to provide the following necessary element for the demonstrations under the action to be funded under Destination 6, Regional rail services/innovative rail services to revitalise capillary lines, to be delivered for 2028 demonstration: Enablers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 14 as described under the Scope section of this Destination. In addition of the above, the proposal shall cover important preparatory works needs to be launched for the future set of FA6 demonstration foreseen in the Multi- annual Work programme in view of the evolutions of the solutions, linked with those same enablers at higher TRL.

The action to be funded under this Destination also needs to provide the following necessary element for the demonstrations under the action to be funded under Destination 1, Network management planning and control & Mobility Management in a multimodal environment, to be delivered for 2028 demonstration: enablers 1 and 4 as described under the Scope section of this Destination, in addition to providing parameters for planning and simulation tools to calculate the capacity benefits. In addition of the above, the proposal shall cover important preparatory works needs to be launched for the future set of FA1 demonstration foreseen in the Multi- annual Work programme in view of the evolutions of the solutions, linked with those same enablers at higher TRL.

The Flagship Project stemming from this topic should develop the following capabilities:

Capability for improving operation performance

Automating functions, such as the wake-up and train preparation capability is needed to start operation, causing the need for development within this Destination of:

• Enabler 1: Automating functions, such as train preparation for both passenger and freight trains. Incident handling, vehicle self-healing and self-managing, cooperative awareness at TRL6 in 2028. The work shall also cover auto-diagnostics, operational tests and reset capability of DATO and next generation ATC operated trains.

Trains must be continuously traceable for traffic control and train operators in automated operation. For this purpose, this Destination should develop:

• Enabler 2: Absolute safe train positioning at TRL6 in 2028
• Enabler 3: Train integrity highly accurate and safe, incorporating new sensors at TRL7 in 2028. Train Safe Length Determination at TRL6 (SIL4) in 2028. For this specific enabler, close coordination with the action to be funded under Destination 5 is to be performed, including an action plan for joint testing activities to be delivered within Month 3 of the project.
• Enabler 4: new ATO technology solutions for the automated driving and decision-making, interoperable, and for all application and segments (including freight and regional) for commercial run at TRL 6/7 in 2028. It should include the already available integration of C-DAS and should include appropriate interfaces with TMS for energy network management;
• Enabler 5: Connectivity solutions: train to ground communication (FRMCS) at TRL7, Multiconnectivity Platform (formerly ACS) at TRL6, Satellite Communications (TRL4) and V2X (TRL6) in 2028.

Safe unattended operation must be ensured by comprehensive, modular, and scalable perception systems (on-board and trackside) for both outdoor and indoor environments. Systems shall be developed under this Demonstration for:

• Enabler 6: Safe environment perception, including signal reading (when applicable) and obstacle detection (including for level crossing), supporting cooperative awareness, supported by virtual certification at TRL6 in 2028. In addition, such systems shall support the monitoring and diagnosis of assets, beyond the incident prevention functionalities.

In transition (either technical or operational) or shunting mode, automated train operation requires the development in this Destination of:

• Enabler 7: Remote driving and command, for depots, for lines with low traffic, and for fall-back operations as well as for shunting at TRL6 in 2028.

Additionally, the Destination should develop:

• Enabler 8: Autonomous route setting, on low traffic/regional networks, in terminals, in depots and in urban environment at TRL5 in 2028.
• Enabler 9: a Digital Register, acting as a central data source for, e.g., safe train positioning, ATP, TMS and DATO at TRL6 in 2028.

Capability for offering more capacity to customers

• Enabler 10: The combination of radio based ETCS with ATO is key to increase the capacity of railway lines. The development of the following enablers is therefore essential: ETCS Hybrid Train Detection and Moving block systems, taking into account aspects related to relative braking distance. Activities shall reach TRL6 for 2028 demonstration.
• Enabler 11: A fully fledged Virtual coupling, another key element to achieve shorter headways and operational flexibility, supported by enhanced connectivity and localisation, shall also be developed at TRL5, taking into account the outputs from the EU-Rail System Pillar.
• Enabler 12: This development shall also include self-driving freight wagons (supporting cooperative awareness). Activities shall reach TRL5 for the 2028 demonstration.
• Enabler 13: To maximise next generation ATC performance, a new generation of brake systems is needed to bring adjustable/configurable emergency brake control, the holding brake function and integrated adhesion management among other enhanced functionalities. This destination is expected to reach TRL6 for the 2028 demonstration.

Capability for supporting cost-effective deployment

• Enabler 14: Technology as well and the operational procedures need to be validated and tested to ensure fast and safe deployment. To this end, this destination is expected to develop novel platform and facilities for testing, validation and (virtual) certification. Developments should reach TRL 6 in 2028.

Capabilities enabling operational objectives:

The following enablers shall be developed:

• Enabler 16: Modular platform based on next generation ATC architectures, for agreed on-board and trackside modular architecture, reaching TRL6 in 2028.
• Enabler 17: Evolved onboard communication networks at TRL7 in 2028.
• Enabler 18: stable ETCS onboard supporting further end-to-end digital and automated rail operation. Activities can foresee rationalisation and consolidation of mature and generic ETCS onboard related interfaces (e.g. interface to TCMS, TIMS, localisation, ATO, FRMCS and HMI). This work should be performed in coordination with the EU-RAIL System Pillar. TRL3
• Deployment and migration strategic plans, including training and human factors.

Developments on all those enablers should also cover important preparatory works with higher TRL for the next and final set of demonstration foreseen in the Multi- annual Work programme in view of the evolutions of the solutions.

For Research & innovation and demonstrations activities (within the action) making use of data models related to the interoperability or safety of the rail system, those data models should be aligned with the ERA Ontology^[3]. This ontology defines the conceptual framework and the specific terms and relationships for the interoperability or safety of the rail system in the EU that shall be used or where relevant extended. This includes the reuse of the ERA ontology with its semantic artifacts (shacl rules, skos ..) and in cases where it is not sufficient, extensions should be proposed to maintain semantic consistency and interoperability across systems. Those extensions proposals should cover the processes to validate extension to the ERA Ontology with compliant datasets and related competency questions and linked SPARQL queries based on interoperability testbed validation tools (Interoperability Test Bed Guides — ITB Guides^[4]). Corresponding documentation should also include any mappings or transformations considered in the Research & Innovation activities and any assumptions made.

Key Performance Indicators

The action shall actively contribute to measure and monitor the specific quantitative KPIs defined in the Destination description above, including its contribution to the Europe’s Rail Master Plan impacts. Outcomes are to be delivered at a calendar annual basis by each year end.

Collaboration work required with other FAs and other R&I

The action to be funded under Destination 2 shall foresee a common activity/task related to capturing specific requirements and review of system specifications relevant to the actions to be funded under Destination 5 and Destination 6.

The action to be funded under Destination 2 shall foresee a common activity/task related to the Preparatory works on the integration and pilot test(s) of the technical enablers to be provided to the actions to be funded under Destination 1, Destination 5 and Destination 6 for the demonstration to be carried out in the action to be funded by Destination 1, Destination 5 and Destination 6.

It is expected that the Flagship Project stemming from this topic will use the EU-RAIL System Pillar Cybersecurity specifications ^[5], provide feedback to the Destination 1 Workstream 2 covering Cybersecurity and foresee adequate structure and resources for these activities.

Additionally, the project should seek for synergies and take into account the output of the EU-Rail Project NEXUS (GA number: 101177985).

Interaction with the System Pillar

The System Pillar aims to guide, support and secure the work of the Innovation Pillar (i.e. to ensure that research is targeted on commonly agreed and shared customer requirements and operational needs, compatible and aligned to the system architecture), and the Innovation Pillar will impact the scope of the System Pillar where new technologies or processes mean that innovations can drive a change in approach, as well as delivering detailed specifications and requirements.

In general for onboard demonstration work the latest ERTMS system version for the onboards should be used.

The proposal shall include specification (including drafts of new or extended subsets of the CCS TSI) and demonstration activities for the validation of the following architectural aspects, stemming from the work of System Pillar. The specification work in particular shall be closely coordinated with the System Pillar work to ensure consistency.

Architectural aspects to be considered:

• Enhanced train interface, especially for two train length information (STIP_73)
• Characteristic, application services and application communication of an onboard repository (STIP_67)
• Exchangeability of ASTP (STIP_29)
• SS- 147 for harmonized full stack (STIP_68) [perhaps already finished in WP23, phase 1]
• DMI/Multi-Display (STIP_69/70)
• Full ASTP (to be continued for clarification, if current demonstrators not already lead to an agreed solution selection)(STIP_30)
• Supervised Manoeuvres (STIP 135)
• ATO GoA 3,4 (STIP20-27)
• RTO, remote train supervision and control (STIP 28)
• Continuation of moving block demonstrator / trackside protection system according to TrafficCS requirements (STIP_102) including demonstration of digital register (STIP 8) and configuration management (STIP 7)
• Simulation of operational scenarios along results of SP OD rulebooks (STIP 2)
• Cyber security

The proposal may also include preparatory activities for the validation of those architectural elements in Phase 3 of the EU-RAIL programme. In consideration of the timing of the activities, the planning as per the STIP should be taken into account and referred to.

The proposal should allocate necessary resources that would support the above-mentioned activities.

The alignment of the activities will primarily take place during the Grant Preparation Phase and ramp up phase of the awarded proposal, and there will be continued, structured and regular interaction through the life of the project.

The EU-RAIL System Pillar is producing specifications and other relevant documents ^[6]. In general the documents applicable to the Destination 2 should be used. If it is considered documents are not applicable, the proposals shall explain the reason(s) for not using them (to note the application of the documents may still be required by EU-RAIL). During the action to be funded under this Destination, there may be updating of the documents, including based on feedback from application in technical enablers and demonstrators. Relevant feedback should be provided on a regular basis to EU-RAIL and the System Pillar.

The action shall actively contribute to the update of the EU-Rail Standardisation and TSIs input plan (STIP) wherever relevant. Similarly, the action shall contribute to the development and implementation of EU policy and legislation including Technical Specifications for Interoperability and Common Safety Methods, as well as to publications of the System Pillar.

Interaction with other relevant actions

Work under this topic should link to relevant actions, when appropriate, financed by the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF2).

Gender dimension

In this topic the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content is not a mandatory requirement.

Other

It is expected that the Flagship Project stemming from this topic:

• will involve sufficient European geographical representation of academia, and ensure that all needed expertise for the described activities reflects the Special skills and/or capabilities expected from the Applicant(s) as described in the specific topic conditions.
• will be compliant with the EU Data Policy 2020 and associated legal instruments. This requires adherence to EU framework, including but not limited to: the Open Data Directive (EU) 2019/1024 and associated implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/138 on high-value data sets, the Data Governance Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/868), the Data Act (Regulation (EU) 2023/2854), and the Interoperable Europe Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/903). Ensuring compliance involves verifying that data management, processing and sharing comply with applicable EU framework.

[1] On the basis of FP2-R2DATO deliveries: https://projects.rail-research.europa.eu/eurail-fp2/deliverables/

[2]

[3] https://github.com/Interoperable-data/ERA-Ontology-3.1.0

[4] https://www.itb.ec.europa.eu/docs/guides/latest/overview/index.html

[5] https://rail-research.europa.eu/horizontal-tasks/

[6] https://rail-research.europa.eu/v1-release/