August 26, 2026 | InnoTrans 2026

DLR localization software facilitates digital railway applications

Orthophoto LGLN (2026)

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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.

RailPos has been developed in several challenging research projects that demanded high-quality position and velocity data given real-world onboard sensor and system measurements. Recent examples are EGNSS MATE and OnboardEU. RailPos supports data from onboard GNSS receivers and antennas, inertial measurement units, and velocity sensors. Digital track network geodata are tightly integrated so as to exploit the track-constrained vehicle motion. RailPos has been coded in Python following domain-driven design principles, which simplify its integration with existing processing chains. Stakeholders can use RailPos to enrich their applications with high-quality position information that open novel business opportunities. Licensing and stakeholder-specific development options are available from the RailPos-Team.

Projects

OnboardEU – automatically detect damage to the track with AI

Streetcars are highly frequented means of public transportation that also run through densely populated city districts. Passengers and residents usually find the noise and vibrations caused by damage to the tracks particularly annoying. The damage also means higher costs for the vehicle operators. This is where the OnboardEU project comes in, in which the German Aerospace Center (DLR), together with the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, and i4M technologies GmbH, Aachen, is developing solutions for the automatic detection of damage using AI.

EGNSS MATE – Map-supported GNSS localisation for European railways

EGNSS MATE is a project that contributes towards climate-friendly, cost-efficient, digital, interoperable, and safe European railways by researching and developing advanced GNSS onboard train localisation.

Scientific Publications and Software

Recent article on the RailPos software in EI - DER EISENBAHNINGENIEUR (in German)

RailPos software components on GitHub

Contact

Dr.-Ing. Christian Meirich

Head of Department
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Institute of Transportation Systems
Digitalized Rail Transport and Operations
Lilienthalplatz 7, 38108 Braunschweig