The first pilot project, 'Digital S-Bahn Hamburg' (DSH 1.0), was a pioneering project by Deutsche Bahn as part of the 'Digital Rail Germany' programme. In partnership with the Hanseatic City of Hamburg and Siemens Mobility, S-Bahn operation is being digitalised to meet the growing demand for local public transport in metropolitan areas. By networking the infrastructure with vehicles using ETCS and ATO GoA 2, local transport is becoming more efficient and powerful. An important milestone was the successful introduction of ATO in regular passenger operations, which had a lasting impact on the future of the German rail network. 

As part of the follow-up project DSH 2.0 for the development of an intelligent operations control system for the Hamburg S-Bahn, several objectives are being pursued on this basis. The main aim is to optimise rail operations in terms of traffic and energy. In particular, energy consumption is to be reduced and peak loads avoided to relieve the power supply system. In addition, a study is being carried out to identify energy recovery potential.  

The project is being realised in cooperation with various partners. These include S-Bahn Hamburg GmbH, Siemens Mobility GmbH and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. The project will run from 2023 to 2027. 

NEXTRAIL provides extensive services as part of the project. These include the overall system integration and the overall system test, including the creation of an integration concept, integration planning, the development of a test concept and the creation, implementation and execution of test cases. NEXTRAIL also supports all ATO trackside issues in cooperation with DB InfraGO AG. This includes the creation of requirements and functional specifications, the development of technical concepts, the creation of an integration concept and the development of a test concept. Finally, NEXTRAIL also carries out ATO-related tests and supports the neighbouring ATO vehicle projects.