PublicSeptember 22, 2026 at 6:00 AM – September 25, 2026 at 7:00 AM

InnoTrans 2026

InnoTrans is the world’s leading international trade fair for transport technology. It brings together manufacturers, transport companies, infrastructure operators, research institutions and policy-makers, and presents innovations across the entire rail transport value chain. This year’s trade fair is themed ‘The future of mobility’. Key themes include rail vehicles, railway infrastructure, signalling and safety technology, digitalisation, automation, and sustainable and climate-friendly mobility solutions.

DLR-Stand-auf-der-InnoTrans-2024
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Location
Berlin, Trade fair, ExpoCenter City

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) will participate in InnoTrans 2026 with presentations on its research in transportation and mobility. The DLR will present its latest research and development work on topics such as digitilised and automated rail systems, energy-efficient vehicles, operational concepts, system analysis, and sustainable transportation solutions.

As in previous years, the Institute of Transportation Systems Engineering will be represented at the DLR booth with exciting exhibits related to rail transportation together with other DLR institutes.

Visit us in Hall 2.2, Booth 440.

Our topics at InnoTrans 2026

August 26, 2026

Federated Data Spaces for Railway

A Rail Data Space provides a federated and trusted framework for secure, sovereign, and interoperable data sharing across the rail ecosystem. By connecting stakeholders through standardized technologies and trusted data exchange mechanisms, it enables more efficient collaboration, innovation, and data-driven operations. At InnoTrans 2026, we are pleased to present and discuss how Data Spaces can contribute to this vision and leverage the digital transformation of the railway sector.

August 26, 2026

Robust Train Routing Optimization for Railway Stations

Railway stations are neuralgic points where train delays can cascade across the network. In the project Motional, we develop a robust routing-optimization framework that mathematically optimizes routing plans in early planning stages to minimize the expected propagation of delays, delivering decision‑support for railway timetable planners.

August 27, 2026

Holistic Condition Monitoring for Predictive Maintenance

Ensuring the reliability and safety of railway infrastructure at manageable costs requires a shift from corrective or simple preventive to predictive maintenance. Our research group focuses on the holistic condition monitoring of critical assets such as switches and rails as well as the track superstructure as a whole. By fusing high-resolution data from embedded wayside sensors, vehicle-borne monitoring, and existing maintenance records together with environmental data, we develop AI-driven algorithms that continuously provide actionable insights into asset health.

August 26, 2026

Operator Monitoring in Control Center

Increasing automation in transportation systems is changing the requirements for operators working within those systems. Our solution for ensuring safe operations is a real-time operator state monitoring system that can be integrated into various operator workstations.

August 26, 2026

Balise Reader for a faster ETCS roll-out

The digital railway requires precise data and straightforward integration. But how can balises be monitored efficiently and the data utilised for research and development? With a highly flexible ETCS balise reader, such as the one developed by researchers at the DLR.

August 26, 2026

DLR localization software facilitates digital railway applications

An increasing number of applications depend on track-selective position and motion information of railway vehicles in the track network. Even with existing data, a practical solution of the localization problem is far from simple. DLR addresses this by developing RailPos, a modular software toolbox for the processing of onboard sensor readings and digital track network geodata.

ETCS testing – efficient solutions for complex railway tests

Traditional field tests in the railway sector take a long time, are complicated and require extensive hardware work. This can significantly delay and increase the cost of developing and validating railway control and safety technology. Our RailSiTe® ETCS testing offers an innovative solution to this problem. Our simulation environment makes it possible to generate functional verifications in the laboratory without having to carry out complex field tests.

RailSiTe® – Railway Simulation and Testing Laboratory

At RailSiTe®, DLR has been researching new concepts and processes for faster commissioning of complex communication systems for rail transport for over 20 years. The laboratory is flexibly accredited for both ETCS and EULYNX tests in accordance with DIN EN -ISO/IEC 17025.