As part of the European research and innovation project ERJU IP R2DATO, a definition of the requirements, specifications, and architecture for the Next Generation of Automatic Train Control (NGATC) is being developed. The aim of the project is to increase the capacity, flexibility, efficiency, and sustainability of rail transport in Europe as well as to minimise energy consumption. At the same time, the costs for migration and operation are to be sustainably reduced with standardised and scalable systems.

The project is funded by the European Commission as part of the Horizon Europe programme and coordinated by the Société nationale des chemins de fer français. The ERJU IP WP27 work package is coordinated by Deutsche Bahn (DB Netz AG) and includes partners from various sectors of the rail transport industry.

The ERJU IP R2DATO work package WP27 defines the concrete requirements and specifications of the Digital Register (DR). This is a complex task, as the Digital Register must support a wide range of use cases for systems such as automatic train operation, traffic management systems, localisation and perception as a central data pool. The work package therefore also includes the specifications and requirements for the provision of reliable, interoperable, and accessible static infrastructure information as a prerequisite for safety-related and non-safety-related use cases. In detail, this means the provision of complete, accurate, up-to-date, consistent and validated data on track plans, including geometry, track objects, track structures, etc.

Based on their reputation from previous European harmonisation projects such as Reference CCS Architecture (RCA) and national projects such as SmartRail 4.0 EDP/Topo4 or Safe Rail Map (SRM), NEXTRAIL's experts support the definition of the Digital Register with their extensive knowledge in the field of digital map and infrastructure data management. The tasks performed by the experts from NEXTRAIL are focussed on the development of processes, functions and data models for the generation of reliable static infrastructure information that supports all use cases defined in the project.