Shift2Rail

After an extensive selection process, the Smart DeMain consortium has been chosen by the European Commission to participate in the Shift2Rail programme as one of 19 associated members.

Within Shift2Rail, the consortium will carry out work in Innovation Programme 3: Cost-Efficient, sustainable and reliable high capacity infrastructure which aims to develop new technologies that support a significant improvement of the rail infrastructure. The partners will focus on the design of next-generation infra-components and holistic infrastructure maintenance, as is explained by the name Smart DeMain: Smart Design and Maintenance for the railway of tomorrow.

The consortium is led by Strukton Rail and further consists of Acciona, Cemosa, DLR (German Aerospace Center e. V.), and the Fraunhofer IVI.

As a member of the Smart DeMain consortium, the Fraunhofer IVI will contribute to the Technology Demonstrator TD3.8 Intelligent Asset Management Strategies (IAMS). IAMS focuses on the definition of concepts for maintenance planning and decision support, implementation of risk- and condition-based maintenance strategies, as well as decision support tools and system architectures for maintenance management. In a first step, a generic framework for the maintenance planning process will be designed as a main task within asset management, in which the Fraunhofer IVI will have a leading role.

The Fraunhofer IVI is also one of the partners of the Shift2Rail lighthouse project In2Rail, which aims to set the foundations for a resilient, consistent, cost-efficient, high capacity European network. In2Rail contributes to the Shift2Rail initiative by exploring innovative technologies and embedding resulting concepts in a systems framework where infrastructure, information management, maintenance techniques, energy, and engineering are integrated, optimized, shared and exploited.

Shift2Rail is a joint technology initiative in the rail sector established under the European Framework Programme HORIZON 2020 in the form of a public-private partnership.

The initiative's aim is to improve both the quality and the efficiency of rail services through the uptake of innovative solutions. In order to achieve this aim, new technologies that conform to the highest safety standards will be developed, implemented, demonstrated and validated.

Shift2Rail comprises five Innovation Programmes focusing on different relevant topics in the rail sector. The common aim of all programmes is to promote the competitiveness of the European rail industry and to meet the changing EU transport needs. The work carried out within the initiative will also provide the necessary technology to complete the Single European Railway Area (SERA).