InTra – Infrastructure and transformation

The project InTra aims to use integrated planning, new technologies and sustainable approaches to secure and further develop the resilience, performance and compatibility of the railway infrastructure as the backbone of rail transport in the long term.

Motivation and goals

The project InTra (short for Infrastructure and Transformation) deals with the diverse issues of the major upheaval that is emerging in railway infrastructure as the backbone of rail transport.

"Reliable, flexible and compatible infrastructures are the backbone of safe and efficient railway operations."

The aim of the project is:

  • ... increasing the operational resilience of the railway system through targeted, risk-adapted integrated planning of maintenance, servicing and train operations.
  • ... ensuring a sustainable, high-performance railway system in view of the increased challenges posed by the mobility transition and major upheavals caused by the establishment of new operating concepts and the introduction of the Deutschland-Takt. In addition to cost efficiency, the flexibility and sustainability of transport planning decisions in particular should be taken into account.
  • ... to analyse customer requirements for the use of rail transport in order to be able to develop technologies and rail networks in line with customer requirements.
  • ... to analyse the effects of the new technologies on stakeholders and to develop a transformation path for selected rail transport market segments. Methods of optimisation, classical economics and innovation economics are used for this purpose.
  • ... to design railway infrastructures that are durable and compatible with people and the environment.
  • ... to develop methods and tools for the entire life cycle of highly automated or autonomous and digitalised rail systems that ensure the technical reliability of these systems during development and also during their operation.
  • ... to develop and demonstrate verification approaches that can serve as a basis for the approval of innovative railway systems.
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Project and sub-projects

InTra is funded from DLR's own resources. 8 DLR institutes and research organisations are involved in the project. The project is led by the Institute of Transportation Systems. The project is organised in three closely linked sub-projects (TP). Each of the three sub-projects is managed by a sub-project leader.

+ TP 1: InTra Infrastructure

+ TP 2: InTra Transformation

+ TP 3: InTra Test & Approval

Project duration

2022 to 2025

Budget

approx. € 12 million

Participating institutes

This project is managed by the department:

Railway Technologies

The department Railway Technologies develops and researches technologies for automated train operation – both on the vehicle and infrastructure side. The focus is on key areas such as sensor technology, remote operation, control and safety technology, human factors as well as testing and test environments. We always keep an eye on the issue of subsequent authorisation. We put people at the centre of digitalisation in rail transport. Our [...]

Contact

Lennart Asbach

Head of Department
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Institute of Transportation Systems
Railway Technologies
Lilienthalplatz 7, 38108 Braunschweig