A sustainable and green rail system

Expected Outcome

Building upon the work achieved in FP4-Rail4Earth (GA number: 101101917) and other research and innovation, the Flagship Project stemming from this topic should deliver solutions for the holistic approach to:

• Energy and equivalent CO2 savings in the rail system, covering:
• Developments oriented towards a more integrated and standardised Rail Power Smart Grid, integrating greener energies[1], cutting peak of energy consumption and allowing for a better control, and management.
• Developments oriented towards a better energy management not only at station level but also providing more intelligent and integrated control systems and allowing for a larger energy flexibility and resilience of the Electrical Smart Grid.
• Circular, sustainable solutions contributing to a resilient rail, covering:
• Technologies, systems and materials for a more sustainable, less resource-intensive and extreme hazard resilient by design (including climate change related issues) of railway infrastructure/assets and rolling stocks, oriented towards the whole life cycle of the assets.
• Guidelines for the design/rehabilitation of modular stations according to size and uses oriented towards the reduction of the carbon footprint for the whole life cycle.
• A healthier, safer and more attractive railway system, covering:
• HVAC[2] at the vehicle level with improved management of air flow and integration of health management measures in the rolling stock, for a European deployable solution.
• Passenger flow management integrating health and safety measures.
• Industrial standards for easing the quick adaptation of interiors by modularity with the integration of bio-sourced materials and circularity of the assets.

The Flagship Project stemming from this topic should deliver, by 2028, innovative and resilient solutions to be demonstrated by:

• Alternative energy solutions for the rolling stock, covering at TRL7/8:
• High performances Batteries Electric Multi-Unit (BEMU) train;
• Hydrogen hybrid trains with test of heavy-duty inspection vehicle and/or loco for freight-passengers;
• Auto adaptive train energy consumption to various services situations;
• A holistic approach to energy in rail infrastructure (design, production, use and intelligent management), at TRL6/8, covering:
• Rail Power Smart Grid in different systems as well as the integration of energy storage87 solutions;
• Development of a universal hydrogen refuelling interface, with a specific focus on the development of digital algorithms to improve refuelling efficiency
• Sustainability and resilience of the rail system in a holistic approach to asset management, delivering more value at TRL6/7:
• Development of solutions and models for the reduction of noise and vibrations from railway infrastructure and rolling stock[3] and to predict the effect of degradation, of maintenance and of noise perception as well as ensuring resilience to external risks, such as climate change;
• Improvement of electro-mechanical components and sub-systems for the rolling stock, at TRL7/9, covering:
• Technological solutions for the migration to the airless train: Electro-mechanical braking system[4] and novel electro-mechanical pantograph;
• Optimised motors and gearboxes, high performance bogies, suspensions and new materials;
• Eco-friendly HVAC system technologies;
• Aerodynamic certification with experimental and numerical methods;
• Healthier and safer rail system at TRL7/9, covering:
• Solutions for improving the air quality in trains, stations and tunnels;
• Attractiveness, at TRL7/8, covering:
• Modular rolling stock interiors providing new design and new architectures (including drivers’ cabin), respecting PRM requirements and enhancing accessibility with innovative solutions.

In addition of the above, the proposal shall cover important preparatory works needs to be launched for the future set of demonstration foreseen in the Multi- Annual Work Programme in view of the evolutions of the solutions up to TRL 8, and where possible 9:

• integration of technical enablers for high performances BEMU trains to enhance standardised and interoperable batteries charging interfaces and data protocol to ensure cost efficiency;
• scalability of energy storage applications;
• airless train components’ evolution and technologies used for the reduction of noise, weight and energy consumption;
• preparation and/or simulation of the integrated demonstration in real environment of modular rolling stock.

The action to be funded under this Destination also needs to provide the following necessary elements for the demonstrations under the action to be funded under the Destination 1, Network management planning and control & Mobility Management in a multimodal environment to be delivered for 2028 demonstrations: enablers 4 and 5 as described under the Scope section of this Destination, in addition to providing DAS/C-DAS and energy management experts input for the optimization methods for capacity efficiency and energy saving. In addition of the above, the proposal shall cover important preparatory works needs to be launched for the future set of demonstration foreseen in the Multi- annual Work programme in view of the evolutions of the solutions, linked with the same enablers at higher TRL.

Scope

The Flagship Project stemming from this topic should develop the following capabilities:

Alternative energy solutions for the rolling stock

Development, validation and demonstration of traction system components, including related innovative and standardised functions, to improve technical, environmental, circular economy and LCC KPIs. To demonstrate the feasibility of the results of the innovation, the technical enabler will be applied in static test bench and real demonstrators of:

• Enabler 1: Trains with on-board Energy Storage Systems. High performance and high efficient Batteries Electric Multi-Unit (BEMU) trains with long autonomy (80km baseline and over 200 km targeted) (TRL 7/8 to be achieved in 2028)
• Enabler 2: Hydrogen hybrid trains: infrastructure inspection/maintenance heavy duty vehicle and/or loco for freight-passengers at TRL7 in 2028 (powered with gas H2 or liquid H2)

Holistic approach to energy management in the railway system

The increased use of renewable energy sources (RES), energy storage devices and the smart energy management will improve the global mobility decarbonization and the energy efficiency of the railway system. Within this Destination, this approach will be done through:

• Enabler 3: Development of a universal hydrogen refuelling interface as well as digital algorithms to improve refuelling efficiency at TRL6/7 in 2028.
• Enabler 4: Integration of various sources in different systems (e.g. 25kV AC, 1,5/3kV DC), of renewable energy, energy harvesting technologies, breaking energy recovery, etc, as well as the integration of energy storage at TRL6/8 in 2028.
• Enabler 5: Solutions for the optimal energy management in the whole power system, covering traction and non-traction demand including stations as energy hubs and integrated in a smart grid under the market rules and targeting at TRL7/8 in 2028.
• Optional - Enabler 17: Develop and validate innovative static and dynamic charging solutions for battery trains operating with DC traction at TRL6 in 2028

Sustainability and resilience of the rail system to deliver added value on asset management

This Destination aims to provide solutions to foster environmental advantages of rail, reduce nuisances and addressing resilience on the whole life cycle through:

• Enabler 6: Adaptation to climate change with the development of a tool on European climate variables usable for railway assets, considering risk assessment reports and considering the evaluation of existing solutions to accelerate the lowering of environmental footprint targeting TRL6 in 2028 to implement adaptation strategies.
• Enabler 7: Development of noise indicators, simulation and measurement tools, mitigation measures and optimised maintenance regimes for noise and vibrations, at TRL6/7 in 2028.
• Enabler 8: Research oriented towards smarter and greener railway stations including methodologies and guidelines for the optimal design/rehabilitation of station layout including modularity oriented towards carbon footprint reduction, as well as digital twin technologies for smarter energy management and for the integration of resilience and circularity indicators of railway stations to be validated at TRL7/8 in 2028.
• Enabler 9: Development of tools and indicators to promote eco-design, assess environmental performance improvements and ensure standardized reporting of the environmental impacts of the rail sector at TRL6/7 in 2028.

Improvement of electro-mechanical components and sub-systems for the rolling stock

The technological solutions for the migration to the airless train will require high performance bogies, gearboxes, suspensions, and materials. This destination will achieve those improvements by:

• Enabler 10: Developing and introduce to the market electro-mechanical braking system and pantograph while targeting energy savings on the involved subsystems and reduce associated maintenance costs at TRL7/9 in 2028 and prepare for later evolutions.
• Enabler 11: Introducing optimised motors and gearboxes, high performance bogies, suspensions and new materials following circular economy principles at TRL7 in 2028.
• Enabler 12: Delivering alternative technologies to replace hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants by HVAC system using green refrigerants or new cooling technologies with reduced energy consumption at TRL7 in 2028.
• Enabler 13: Introducing enhanced experimental and numerical methods at TRL6/7 on aerodynamic certifications in 2028.

Healthier and safer rail system

The demonstration of novel systems and technologies to include enhancing the air quality by air purification and air distribution while addressing the thermal comfort and air quality (virus, bacteria, volatile organic compounds and fine particles) to guarantee a platform independent approach by:

• Enabler 14: Specific sub-demonstrators to be set-up, each of them contributing to the overall goal of the demonstration of a healthier environment in the rail vehicle, for both new designs of future trains and refurbishment of existing trains at TRL7/9 in 2028.

Attractiveness

This destination is expected to develop rolling stock interiors designed by modularity, plug and play fixation systems by innovative low-tech, circular design and comfort aspects, as well as to develop new architectures for driver’s cabin to reach TRL7/8 in 2028. Within this Destination, the demonstrations will be supported on:

• Enabler 15: The facilitation of on-demand/modular comfort for users such as access, lighting, thermal and acoustic conditions as well as with new architectures to increase passenger capacity at TRL8 in 2028.
• Enabler 16: The facilitation to adapt rolling stock with refurbishment and innovative concepts to support the increase of capacity of the rolling stock, including accessibility to PRM at TRL7/8 in 2028 and prepare for later evolutions.

Developments on all those 16 enablers (+1 optional) should also cover important preparatory works with higher TRL for the future set of demonstration foreseen in the Multi- annual Work programme in view of the evolutions of the solutions.

For Research & innovation and demonstrations activities (within the action) making use of data models related to the interoperability or safety of the rail system, those data models should be aligned with the ERA Ontology[5]. This ontology defines the conceptual framework and the specific terms and relationships for the interoperability or safety of the rail system in the EU that shall be used or where relevant extended. This includes the reuse of the ERA ontology with its semantic artifacts (shacl rules, skos ..) and in cases where it is not sufficient, extensions should be proposed to maintain semantic consistency and interoperability across systems. Those extensions proposals should cover the processes to validate extension to the ERA Ontology with compliant datasets and related competency questions and linked SPARQL queries based on interoperability testbed validation tools (Interoperability Test Bed Guides - ITB Guides[6]). Corresponding documentation should also include any mappings or transformations considered in the Research & Innovation activities and any assumptions made.

Key Performance Indicators

The action shall actively contribute to measure and monitor the specific quantitative KPIs defined in the Destination description above, including its contribution to the Europe’s Rail Master Plan impacts. Outcomes are to be delivered at a calendar annual basis by each year end

Collaboration work required with other FAs and R&I

The action to be funded under Destination 4 shall foresee common activity/task related to the use case developments relevant to the actions to be funded under Destination 1 (not limited to).

It is expected that the Flagship Project stemming from this topic will use the EU-RAIL System Pillar Cybersecurity specifications [7], provide feedback to the Destination 1 Workstream 2 covering Cybersecurity and foresee adequate structure and resources for these activities.

Additionally, the project should seek for synergies with any project stemming from the topic call “HORIZON-CL5-2026-05-D2-03: Integrated Production and Product Development for Next-Generation Lithium-based Batteries for Mobility” that would include a rail application.

Interaction with the System Pillar

The System Pillar aims to guide, support and secure the work of the Innovation Pillar (i.e. to ensure that research is targeted on commonly agreed and shared customer requirements and operational needs, compatible and aligned to the system architecture), and the Innovation Pillar will impact the scope of the System Pillar where new technologies or processes mean that innovations can drive a change in approach, as well as delivering detailed specifications and requirements.

In this respect, the necessary resources would have to be dedicated to areas linked to System Pillar conceptual and architecture works - particularly addressing specification development (the interaction is illustrated in the System Pillar - Innovation Pillar interaction note (Annex VI of this Work Programme). The alignment of the activities will primarily take place during the Grant Preparation Phase and ramp up phase of the awarded proposal, and there will be continued interaction through the life of the project.

The EU-RAIL System Pillar is producing specifications and other relevant documents [8]. In general the documents applicable to the Destination 4 should be used. If it is considered documents are not applicable, the proposals shall explain the reason(s) for not using them (to note the application of the documents may still be required by EU-RAIL). During the action to be funded under this Destination, there may be updating of the documents, including based on feedback from application in technical enablers and demonstrators. Relevant feedback should be provided on a regular basis to EU-RAIL and the System Pillar.

The action shall actively contribute to the update of the EU-Rail Standardisation and TSIs input plan (STIP) wherever relevant. Similarly, the action shall contribute to the development and implementation of EU policy and legislation including Technical Specifications for Interoperability and Common Safety Methods, as well as to publications of the System Pillar.

Gender dimension

In this topic the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content is not a mandatory requirement.

Other

It is expected that the Flagship Project stemming from this topic:

• will involve sufficient European geographical representation of academia, and ensure that all needed expertise for the described activities reflects the Special skills and/or capabilities expected from the Applicant(s) as described in the specific topic conditions.
• will be compliant with the EU Data Policy 2020 and associated legal instruments. This requires adherence to EU framework, including but not limited to the Open Data Directive (EU) 2019/1024 and associated implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/138 on high-value data sets, the Data Governance Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/868), the Data Act (Regulation (EU) 2023/2854), and the Interoperable Europe Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/903). Ensuring compliance involves verifying that data management, processing and sharing comply with applicable EU framework.

Activities are expected to achieve a minimum between TRL 6 and TRL 9, depending on the enabler addressed, or higher by the end of the project - see General Annex B for a guide to the TRL definitions and criteria to be used.

[1] Study on the use of Fuel Cells and hydrogen in the railway environment, available here: https://rail-research.europa.eu/latest-news/new-study-on-the-use-of-fuel-cells-and-hydrogen-in-the-railway-environment/ + FP4-Rail4earth public relevant deliverables https://rail-research.europa.eu/rail-projects/fp4-rail4earth/

[2] FP4-Rail4earth public relevant deliverables https://rail-research.europa.eu/rail-projects/fp4-rail4earth/

[3] FP4-Rail4earth public relevant deliverables https://rail-research.europa.eu/rail-projects/fp4-rail4earth/

[4] FP4-Rail4earth public relevant deliverables https://rail-research.europa.eu/rail-projects/fp4-rail4earth/

[5] https://github.com/Interoperable-data/ERA-Ontology-3.1.0

[6] https://www.itb.ec.europa.eu/docs/guides/latest/overview/index.html

[7] https://rail-research.europa.eu/horizontal-tasks/

[8] https://rail-research.europa.eu/v1-release/