Austria: Kapsch CarrierCom joins SHIFT2RAIL initiative

Image courtesy of Kapsch CarrierCom

Kapsch CarrierCom, the Austrian railway telecommunication expert, has announced that it will be participating in SHIFT2RAIL, a European joint technology initiative.

SHIFT_RAIL is an EU initiative which is concentrated on research and innovation to speed up the advance of new technologies, products and solutions specifically for the railway industry. Kapsch CarrierCom will participate in SHIFT_RAILs Innovation Program 2 (IP2), lending its expertise to progress advanced traffic management and control systems.

Kapsch is a leading producer of end-to-end Railway Dedicated Network solutions, delivering communication for approximately 80,000 kilometers of railway in Europe, Africa and Asia.

SHIFT2RAIL for the EU rail industry

SHIFT2RAIL is a multiannual European research program to create a Research and Innovation (R&I) environment in which market-driven solutions can be developed for commercial operations. Its purpose is to create the railway network of the future, standardised across Europe.

It is a joint effort by the European Union and the European rail industry to increase capacity on the European rail network, meeting increased passenger and freight demand in line with environmental sustainability. It will create a reliable, next-generation series of products and solutions, while reducing life-cycle costs in order to promote rail travel as an attractive transport mode for passengers and businesses, increasing the competitiveness of the European rail industry.

SHIFT2RAIL IP2

The IP2 team is working towards extending the remit of ERTMS from signalling, control and safe separation of trains towards becoming an adaptive, intelligent real-time traffic management and decision support systems. It will achieve this by utilising existing technology and innovations such as GPS, high-speed, high capacity data transfer and voice communications, as well as automation technology and by developing new innovations to create a holistic and unified railway network.

As part of the IP2 team, Kapsch will undertake the analysis, specification and implementation of a prototype emergency call application. Kapschs focus will be on cyber security , creating new processes and configurations to detect and prevent attacks on IT and communication systems on the railways. The research project will use an innovative approach to keep costs low, in addition to undertaking the complicated process of system testing and system validation.

Thomas Schpf, COO Kapsch CarrierCom said:

We join SHIFT2RAIL after a strict selection process as an associated member, and as the only GSM-R supplier within the initiative. We are convinced that we can make an important contribution, through our expertise and many years of experience in the business to make ERTMS future-proof, and lift it to the next level.

Technological Demonstration

A key focus of the five Innovation Programs is demonstration activities, to supply a quantified impact assessment and give guidance on the best technological combinations to deliver an optimised railway network. The demonstration activities are the last non-commercial step before the systems are put into commercial testing and operation.