The objective of the proposal is research in semantic, ontology based automation of transformations between heterogeneous data formats, and its application to a complex ‘after-sales’ process use case in an actual run-time demonstration scenario. The technology will leverage Shift2Rail Interoperability Framework (IF) components developed in the IT2Rail “lighthouse” project, extending it for use in related Shift2Rail projects under the “S2R-CFM-IP4-01-2015: Shopping, booking and ticketing of multimodal travel solutions” and “S2R-CFM-IP4-02-2015: Travel companion and tracking services” calls. The project will additionally provide a case scenario for exercising the Governance and management structure developed under the related “S2R-OC-IP4-01-2016: IF Governance, ensuring its market uptake and sustainability” call. The objectives will be achieved through a partnership of specialist participants including research institutions, a major European rail operator, industry associations representing the rail sector and public transportation authorities, and industrial providers of mission critical ICT solutions to the rail sector. Participants, which are also involved in the original consortium of designers for the IF in IT2Rail, will perform work organised in specific work packages focused on fundamental industrial research in semantic web technologies. These technologies will comprise ontology engineering and automated semantic transformations, in a dedicated work package, to provide the actual runtime demonstration scenario of the application of such technology to transformations of existing European TAP-TSI specification exchanges executed on an existing industrial platform for such exchanges. The project extends the capabilities of the IF as described in the Shift2Rail Multi Annual Action Plan contributing to the realisation of a distributed semantic “web of transport” integrating the TAP-TSI specification as one of its elements.

The OPTIMA project falls within the scope of the topic S2R-OC-IP2-02-2019 call – Support to development of demonstrator platform for Traffic Management – which is connected with the complementary topics S2R-CFM-IP2-01-2019, S2R-CFM-CCA-01-2019. The OPTIMA project will address the design and development of a Communication Platform to manage the link with different services (multimodal operational systems), supporting TMS applications. In this sense, the Communication Platform will link TMS applications with Traffic Management, Traffic Control, Maintenance/Energy Management and signalling field infrastructure systems. In particular, the following activities are linked with the main objectives of OPTIMA: • use of Integration Layer to integrate real-time data from the rail business service, external sources, services running in the Application Framework and operator workstations; • development, validation and verification of: o middleware of Integration Layer (or if you prefer: Integration Layer constituents and its interfaces); o software clients for connecting several rail business services and external services; o Application Framework constituents and its interfaces; o enhanced integration of the standardized operator workstations; o definition of detailed data structure according the Conceptual Data Model; o first level support for testing prototypes of complementary projects; • provision of a fully available and documented communication platform for installing and testing complementary projects prototypes. In addition, OPTIMA will disseminate project findings to relevant stakeholders and communities and will ensure the sustainability and impact of the results coming from the own activities. The Consortium is well balanced with research organizations, industrial rail stakeholders and Infrastructure Managers actively performing Traffic Management and Traffic Control in dedicated Control centers, some of them with previous participation in S2R projects.

The concept of Interoperability Framework (IF) is at the core of the Shift2Rail Innovation Programme (IP) 4, and it is the key concept for facilitating a seamless travel experience for users across borders and modes. The IF enables the technical interoperability of heterogeneous, multimodal transport-related services by relieving applications from the task of locating, harmonizing and understanding multiple and independent data and event sources, services, etc. A series of past and ongoing projects related to Shift2Rail IP4 (IT2Rail, ST4RT, GOF4R, CONNECTIVE) have developed and are refining and extending a set of core concepts and technologies that are part of the IF. The Semantics for PerfoRmant and scalable INteroperability of multimodal Transport (SPRINT) project will improve key aspects of the Shift2Rail IF to bring the market uptake of the multimodal transport ecosystem envisioned by IP4 closer to reality. In particular, the project will address the following specific challenges posed by the objectives of TD4.1 objectives and explicitly addressed by the S2R-OC-IP4-01-2018 call: • Improve IF performance and scalability to sustain a large deployment. • Simplify/automate all the necessary steps needed to integrate new services and sub-systems in the IP4 ecosystem. To this end, the project will: • Define a reference architecture for the Shift2Rail IF, which will take into account recent advances in the design and development of distributed systems, and in particular of cloud-based ones. • Define techniques facilitating – in particular by increasing their level of automation –activities that are central to the concept of IF, such as the collaborative creation and management of ontologies and of semantic-based mappings between heterogeneous data representations. • Demonstrate the proposed improvements to the IF through a proof-of-concept implementation that will reach at least TRL 4.

Within IP4 more than 10 projects have created a wide array of technologies that tackles carious aspects of traveller experience. Those technologies tackle the interoperability of Transport Service Providers’ (TSPs) services, travel shopping, booking & ticketing, trip tracking, travel companion technologies and business analytics. Various tools have been tested in various locations around Europe retrieved user feedback and improved upon the feedback. Today, IP4 has a large toolset of proven technologies that need to go to the next level; become ready to be implemented in large scale products. IP4MaaS will assist IP4 projects to demonstrate the technologies at an unprecedented level: 6 different locations in Europe including more than 10 transport operators (Public Transport and Mobility-as-a-Service), authorities and agencies. IP4MaaS will develop the scenarios for the demonstrations and a thorough assessment strategy for the demonstrations that tackles both the performance of the demonstrations as well as the impact of the technologies on users and the environment in urban and suburban setups. IP4MaaS will create strategic plans for the demonstrations that will be updated in two iterations leading to two demonstration phases. Furthermore, the project will provide recommendations regarding the promotion and transferability of the technologies to other locations in Europe. IP4MaaS will organise and monitor one of the largest demonstrations of technologies in European project’s history and expects its findings to be used as a baseline for future demonstrations and testing that involves a diverse group of demo partners.

Assets4Rail shares the Shift2Rail view of having an ageing European railway infrastructure that needs to cope with the expected increased traffics in the future. Likewise, reliable rolling stock will be required to crystallize the desired modal shift to rail. Both goals relay on a proactive and cost-effective maintenance and intervention system in the assets. Assets4Rail aims to contribute to this modal shift by exploring, adapting and testing cutting-edge technologies for railway asset monitoring and maintenance. To achieve that, Assets4Rail follows a twofold approach, including infrastructure (tunnel, bridges, track geometry, and safety systems) and vehicles. A dedicated information model (BIM) will be the keystone of the infrastructure part of the project. This model with integrated algorithms will gather and analyze the information collected by specific sensors which will monitor subsurface tunnel defects, fatigue consumption, noise and vibrations of bridges as well as track geometry. On the other hand, train monitoring will include the installation of track-side and underframe imaging automated system to collect data for detecting specific types of defects that have non-negligible impacts on infrastructure. The additional use of the RFID technology will enable the smooth identification of trains and single elements, associated with the identified rolling stock failures. The combination of mentioned real-time collected data with existing data along the implementation of deep learning techniques for assessing large data volumes will pave the way towards a cost-effective and proactive maintenance process of infrastructure and rolling stock. In addition, two innovative intervention methods, noise rail dampers and the cleaning of long tunnel drainage pipes, will be validated on field. Assets4Rail will benefit from a strong multidisciplinary consortium committed to concrete exploitation activities aligned towards the achievement of the challenging project objectives.