Making Digital Rail a reality, together
Partnerships at eye level
Digitalisation of the railway system is a complex, long-term and highly innovative project, requiring many different competencies – which is why Digital Rail is an initiative of the entire rail sector. To learn from each other, pool resources and represent common interests, we rely on new partnership models. Partners from the industry play just as big a role as rail operators – making it possible to implement similar programmes at European level, such as ‘Shift2Rail’, much more efficiently.
The new standard in Europe
The standardisation of components, their interfaces and technology is a central issue for European railway operations. This is because a common basis is needed for the further technological development of the system and its interoperability and modularity. This is why solutions for the digital railway are not only developed with other railway operators, but also together with several partners in corresponding European initiatives: two of which are Reference CCS Architecture (RCA) and Open CCS Onboard Reference Architecture (OCORA). In addition, Digital Rail for Germany is involved in interest groups such as the EUG (ERTMS User Group) and in standardisation bodies such as ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) to help anchor new technological standards in future-looking regulations and standards.
From client to partner
Cooperation with industry is essential for the digital railway system. And these relationships are changing – the classic client-contractor relationship is being replaced by development partnerships. This has advantages for both sides. Railway operators no longer simply carry out orders, but become active co-developers. And industry can use the knowledge and experience of railway operators to establish open platforms. If approved in Germany, these platforms offer great potential for marketing in Europe and worldwide.
Our partners from A to Z
