Digital Foundation Event – A Journey Through the Future European Railway

The first Digital Foundation dissemination and validation event within the FP1 MOTIONAL project, a key initiative under the European Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-Rail), marked an important milestone in advancing the digital transformation of Europe’s railway system. Organized under the guiding theme “A Journey through the Future European Railway,” the event brought together project partners and stakeholders to showcase, assess, and discuss the digital foundations shaping a more interoperable and data-driven rail ecosystem.

The event opened with an inspiring keynote by Dr. Patrick Marsch, Head of Technical System Architecture, Technology Foundations and IT Platforms at DB InfraGO AG. In his address, he emphasized the critical role of robust digital foundations, harmonized European standards, and cross-organizational collaboration as essential enablers for the future of rail across Europe. His remarks set a clear direction for the discussions and demonstrations that followed throughout the day.

A central highlight of the event was a series of live demonstrations showcasing ongoing innovations under FP1 MOTIONAL. These included:

• Digital Asset Engineering – Planning Outcomes, presented by Waseem Ul Aslam Peer (DB InfraGO AG), demonstrating advanced approaches to infrastructure planning.
• Multimodal decision support, load estimation, and multimodal planning, delivered by Hantz Krzysztof (PKP), highlighting integrated transport intelligence across different mobility modes.
• Digital Twin applications, including use cases for braking & traction systems and point machines, presented by Blas Blanco Mula (CAF) and VijayaBhaskar Adusumalli (Hitachi Rail), illustrating how virtual representations are transforming railway operations and maintenance.
• Federated Rail Data Space, introduced by Alexander Meierhofer (Virtual Vehicle Research ), showcasing secure and collaborative data-sharing frameworks for the rail sector.
• Conceptual Models and Ontology, presented by Airy Magnien (UIC), alongside the Use Case Repository Tool demonstrated by Anthony Jnr. Bokolo (IFE), emphasizing structured knowledge and reuse of digital solutions across projects.

The insights and outcomes from these demonstrations underscored a shared conclusion: developing a strong digital foundation is a fundamental step toward achieving a fully interoperable, efficient, and future-ready European railway system.

The event not only served as a platform for technical validation but also fostered meaningful engagement among stakeholders, enabling valuable feedback and collaboration. Such collective efforts are vital in ensuring that innovation aligns with real-world operational needs and contributes to a cohesive European rail ecosystem.

The FP1 MOTIONAL project continues to demonstrate how strategic alignment, technological innovation, and collaboration across borders can drive the rail sector forward. As the journey toward a digitally enabled railway system progresses, events like this play a crucial role in turning vision into reality,