Unife’s vision of digitalization of railways
In 2022, UNIFE hosted an online event on the digitalization of Railways , titled “Boosting railway digitalisation thanks to EU Research and Innovation”, where industry experts explored the industry’s contribution to railway digitalization, as well as the European Green Deal.
The event was part of the “The European Year of Rail” campaign, which aimed to discuss and explore how the railway sector could leverage emerging technologies to become the backbone of the sustainable mobility model.
European Green Deal
Climate change presents problems and threats around the world, including rising temperatures, reduced air quality and loss of biodiversity.
The agreement focuses on the reduction of greenhouse gases by 2050, and on economic growth decoupled from resource use, the overall aim being to ensure that the EU economy is as sustainable as possible.
During the discussion, the European Green Deal was presented as a positive for the railway sector, allowing for better monitoring of potential environmental impacts. This will allow the industry to monitor its progress and ensure that the steps it is taking reflect the objectives of the agreement.
Autonomous Trains were also discussed
The technology surrounding autonomous and driverless trains has been explored for many years by various players in the industry. With companies such as Tesla making strides in the automotive sector, it is hoped that the railways will soon follow with the implementation of similar technologies.
Train automation has several tangible benefits for both travellers and freight: it allows more trains to run and therefore be able to transport more people and goods; it allows for greater regularity of service and makes it easier to respond to possible unforeseen events. It also reduces energy consumption.
Train automation
Benefits of digitisation
digitalization is a buzzword within the rail industry, defined as a process that uses digital technologies to alter and change a business model, digitisation will enable the rail industry to adopt new technologies and facilitate a range of new and old processes.
Increasing capacity and reducing operating costs will be the most immediate benefits brought by digitisation geared towards monitoring critical assets, proactive condition-based maintenance and more efficient calibration of maintenance intervals.
Ansaldo Trasporti is also designing future innovations in cutting-edge component technology.
Machine learning systems, on-board systems and IoT platforms will shape the way operators carry out their daily tasks, and will also frame the way passengers and goods will move in the future.
In order to guarantee an excellent level of quality at all times, Ansaldo Trasporti, also adapts and renews its design and production planning processes for railway facilities to accommodate all the latest safety technologies, adopting cutting-edge components that can meet increasingly high-quality standards.
