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Press Release – European Train: Europe on the way to InnoTrans 2026
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Railway Collaborative Decision Making in a Freight Node for Node – Corridor Management
Challenge
In modern railway operations, efficient coordination and shared situational awareness are essential to ensure punctuality, capacity optimisation and resilience to disruptions.
The solution
To support these objectives, Europe’s Rail (EU-Rail) has developed the Yard Coordination System (YCS) as part of its digitalisation efforts to improve collaboration across railway actors.
The Digital collaboration Yard Coordination System (YCS) provides a comprehensive situational picture that supports decision-making and enables coordinated decision-making among all railway actors.
Key features
What it does
The YCS enhances operational awareness by giving everyone a clearer view of what is happening and what is expected to happen, including automated planning of track allocation as well as support for conflict detection and resolution.
In addiction, it improves the handling of both minor and major disruptions, reducing operational stress and contributing to a more efficient working environment for staff.
Maturity level
TRL 6 (currently in a demo environment with real-time information).
Expected benefits
- Decision support for yard and network management: The method enables optimisation of yard and network track occupation and improves the handling of disturbances. It gives a situational picture as a basis for decision-making and enables coordinated decision-making by railway system actors.
- Higher level of automation: it supports ng the a higher level of automation within a yard by sharing real-time information and optimisation methods to support planners and dispatchers.
- Proactive disturbance management: The method supports Infrastructure Managers (Ims) and Freight Railway Undertakings (Rus) move from reactive to proactive handling of disturbances in the network.
- Improved working environment: It improves the working environment of planners and dispatchers by providing by providing better information, thereby reducing stress levels.
- Alignment with collaborative decision-making: The method is connected to railway collaborative decision-making initiatives under development in cooperation with Rail Net Europe.
Who benefits
Infrastructure Managers
Railway operators
Final users
Conclusion
The Digital Collaborative Yard Coordination System (YCS) helps Europe’s Rail deliver improved operational efficiency and end-to-end optimisation of railway operations, while increasing network resilience through faster reaction to disruptions and more proactive management. This results in more reliable, predictable, and higher-quality rail services for both passengers and freight. YCS is not just a tool: it is a smarter and more collaborative way of working.
Learn more about the project
FP1-MOTIONAL
The project FP1-MOTIONAL aims to improve planning and operational management of rail services and offers to meet the European goal of making rail the preferred mode of transport.