IDX4rail – Consolidation and standardisation of the infrastructure data model and interface landscape in the rail sector

The IDX4rail project aims to develop a sustainable baseline standard with a focus on achieving a high level of acceptance within the tram, light rail and heavy rail sectors. The result is IDX4rail: a uniform, open and future-proof comprehensive system comprising a data model and a data exchange format for all rail-based transport applications.

As business processes in the rail sector are increasingly digitised on a day-to-day basis, the exchange of data between a wide variety of systems has become the norm. However, this has led to the development of a multitude of interfaces, most of which are based on proprietary solutions. This runs counter to the data providers’ requirement for a clear and internationally standardised interface landscape. The consequences are that it is more difficult to maintain and update the interfaces, and there is also a lack of clarity regarding responsibility for standardisation in the rail sector, which weakens digitalisation across the entire process

Through the IDX4rail project, the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) aims to develop a sustainable baseline standard with a focus on achieving a high level of acceptance within the tram and railway sectors. For this reason, local transport operators and small rail infrastructure operators are involved in the project from the outset, contributing their practical experience. The result is IDX4rail: a uniform, open and future-proof integrated system comprising a data model and data exchange format for all rail-based transport applications.

Firstly, the current status of the available interfaces for infrastructure data relating to railways, trams and light rail systems in Germany will be analysed. As part of this, typical users and target groups, as well as their requirements for the interfaces and software systems, will be identified and assessed holistically. For a harmonisation variant derived from this, preparations will be made to standardise the interfaces on the basis of an ontology, and these will be tested in prototype form with users. Open interface documentation, clear examples and an open-source data converter round off the overall project.

Project title:
IDX4rail – Consolidation and standardisation of the infrastructure data model and interface landscape in Germany’s tram and railway sectors

Duration:
01/2023 to 09/2026

Project volume:
1.936.169 € (of which 80% are funded by BMV)

Contracting authority: Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV)

Project coordinator: railML.org e.V.

Project participants:
railML.org e.V., ERDMANN-Software company mbH, GüteZert Zertifizierungsgesellschaft und Umweltgutachter der Auftraggeber, Güte- und Überwachungsgemeinschaften mbH

Other projects on this topic:

OnboardEU – automatically detecting track damage using AI

Trams are heavily used forms of public transport that also run through densely populated urban areas. Passengers and residents usually find the noise and vibrations caused by damage to the tracks particularly disruptive. Furthermore, such damage results in higher costs for vehicle operators. This is where the OnboardEU project comes in: the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), in collaboration with AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, and i4M technologies GmbH, Aachen, is developing solutions for the automatic detection of damage using AI.

This project is managed by the department: 

Digitalised rail transport and operations

In the Digitalised Rail Transport and Operations Department, we develop and evaluate innovative technologies for a future-proof railway system – one that is digital, robust, cost-effective and sustainable. The railway network in Germany and Europe faces major challenges: it needs to handle more traffic whilst becoming more reliable – and to do so without [...]

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