Rail – On Track to Becoming the Backbone of Mobility

Societies are shifting towards Mobility-as-a-Service and The Digital Passenger. Rail must become smarter and data-driven, integrating digital solutions to tackle challenges like the first/last mile issue

Smart Mobility and Digitalization

Rail has the potential to become the backbone of Smart Mobility. To achieve that goal, digital and data-driven solutions are being developed to regulate and supervise train traffic, ensure safety and integrate rail with other transport modes.

Rail has the potential to become the backbone of Smart Mobility.

For passengers, powerful on-board connectivity ensures their ability to work while travelling or to find the online entertainment of their choice. Connectivity improves comfort and punctuality, and passengers are informed through a single digital platform, giving them access to timetables, routes, ticketing and other travel information relevant for their personalized route.

The Potential of AI in the Rail Industry

AI has the potential to transform important aspects of railway operations, including maintenance, asset management, passenger experience, and network optimization. It can create realistic simulations of maintenance scenarios, helping to identify potential issues before they occur, and generate synthetic data to improve the accuracy of predictive models. In maintenance, AI can improve asset management by analyzing sensor data to predict potential failures and optimize maintenance schedules. This approach can reduce downtime, improve reliability, and enhance operational efficiency, leading to cost savings and higher service quality.

Rail Cybersecurity

Connectedness equals risk. And as Railway operators continue to incorporate digital innovation across their assets, the challenge of securing them becomes increasingly complex. Physical assets and digital assets are getting more closely connected, and to secure them, holistic thinking is needed. There are several dimensions to consider in achieving that holistic view of digital/physical security. For one thing, railway systems and sub-systems have complex interdependences. Furthermore, railway infrastructure has many legacy elements, and the mixed architecture of modern systems and “Old Iron” is difficult to protect. Old systems tend to have a multitude of vulnerabilities that pose extra challenges for effective protection and will increase cybersecurity costs.