Hitachi Rail has been awarded a nationwide 30-year, 1.3 billion EUR framework contract that will see the company introduce cutting-edge interlocking signalling technology across ÖBB’s Austrian network.
As one of two selected technology partners (alongside Siemens Mobility), Hitachi Rail will provide a range of key services, including the development of safety-critical software to network-wide deployment across the ÖBB system and lifecycle support for the installations.
The long-term agreement was officially declared during InnoTrans 2026 by Johann Pluy, Member of the ÖBB-Infrastruktur Executive Board, in the presence of the Austrian Federal Minister Peter Hanke. Hitachi Rail was represented by Hannes Boyer, Vice President North Central & Eastern Europe.
Marking the start of a new era in signalling for Austria; the project aims to provide the foundation necessary to meet growing demands on rail operations. The programme is designed for deployment across the entire ÖBB infrastructure network, and can be implemented on both heavily used main lines and regional or secondary routes.
The project is intended to support all operational functions currently required whilst gradually replacing existing electronic interlocking systems with a digitalised, standardised and centralised architecture.
With roughly 300 digital interlocking units; the project is amongst the largest and most strategically significant railway infrastructure programmes throughout Europe.
In addition to reliability and availability; long-term economic efficiency has been marked as a key objective. Shared computing and platform resources, standardised components, controlled software releases, reduced decentralised field equipment, enhanced maintenance and diagnostics, which will reduce complexity and maintenance requirements as the programme seeks to support central goals of ÖBB’s wider digitalisation strategy: increased operational availability and quality, as well as lower long-term costs.
Passengers will benefit largely behind the scenes, with higher technical availability and improved resilience of the rail network aiming to help ensure more reliable operations, speed up the resolution of disruptions and, together with other digitalisation and expansion projects, create the foundation for a larger and more attractive rail service offering.
Hannes Boyer, VP North, Central & Eastern Europe, said:Together with ÖBB, Hitachi Rail plays a key role in the digitalisation of Austria’s railway network. By combining global signaling expertise with Austrian engineering excellence, we are creating the foundations for a more reliable, efficient and attractive rail system for future generations.
This partnership sustainably strengthens Vienna’s position as a strategic development hub and will serve as an important reference project for the digitalisation of railways across Europe.
As part of the project, Hitachi Rail has announced the creation of 30 new highly-qualified jobs in Vienna at its Handelskai site – wherein which safety-critical software functions will be further developed, project-specific integration and engineering services will be delivered, and both deployment and long-term service support will be provided.
