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.

During the first year of the project, the following activities were performed: • Within WP1, the analysis of the state of art allowed to identify the main existing projects/studies and to collect data about current and future skills and competence needs in rail sector through surveys and interviews. Moreover, the analysis of the state of art regarded the existing methodologies for the skill needs assessment and monitoring and allowed to select the best methodologies to be applied during the project. • Within WP2, the analysis of current trends and future challenges, that railway operators and infrastructure managers are facing, was performed with a particular focus on cross-border rail traffic and language issues in cross-border operations. • WP3 worked on the definition of one or more possible future scenarios from the point of view of rail suppliers. The specific focus was on macro-trends such as autonomous train operations; technologies for the digital twins and virtual coupling; intelligent assets lifecycle management along its entire life; protecting the environment and the energy supply; safety and security; data analytics; digital rail industry supply chain management. • The identification of skills needs and competences of professional profiles focusing on profiles affected by digitalisation/bit data/cybersecurity as well as energy and environmental policies was conducted from the point of view of railway operators and infrastructure managers and rail suppliers. In particular, the analysis of stakeholders’ requirements regarding occupational profiles was performed with reference to the classification of the European Skills, Competencies, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO). • In WP4, a survey about existing educational and training programmes in rail sectors was developed and a database was built collecting data considering features such as the EQF level, the localization, the presence of mandatory/elective internships, etc.. Moreover, the analysis of the qualification standards with reference to the European qualification framework was conducted to identify a common approach to be applied in the project. Finally, the assessment of the distribution of the training courses suitable for the rail sector was performed with the identification of existing unbalances in terms of geographical localization in the EU Countries, EQF levels, and QS with indication of the applied innovative teaching approaches. • In WP5, the identification of criteria and measurable indicators to evaluate employability and career opportunities of training mobility and training mobility programmes is performed applying the RACER (Relevant, Accepted, Credible, Easy and Robust) method. • WP8 developed a multi-channel dissemination and communication plan with the definition of key strategies for project communication and dissemination, for both internal (i.e., project partners) and external stakeholders, with the identification of relevant dissemination tools and channels. The project website was built (https://www.railstaffer.eu/) with an easily recognisable graphic identity (including the STAFFER logo). • Within WP9, the Project Handbook was defined with all the information regarding the: administrative and financial procedures, the technical management, the project management and communication and the delivery of project outputs. Moreover, the Quality Plan and peer review table reported all the procedures to guarantee the quality of the project results. Finally, the members of the Advisory and Policy Board were defined.

The IAM4RAIL project focuses on seven (7) different integrated demonstrators for rail assets which are key for research and innovation (R&I) in the rail sector. Integrating asset condition information obtained via advanced monitoring with decision-making tools and into the traffic management system (TMS), combining available information with artificial intelligence (AI) and digital twins are covered as key topics for R&I in IAM4RAIL. Other topics such as interventions using cutting-edge technologies as robotics or additive manufacturing are seen as relevant for improving asset management in the rail sector. An European cross-border, interoperable and holistic integrated approach is needed for those topics and others in the asset management framework, that are to be transferred once developed crucial to harmonise European Rail System. Therefore, IAM4RAIL aims to reinforce the next generation of Intelligent and Integrated Rail Asset Management providing and demonstrating innovative solutions covering fixed and rolling stock assets, minimizing the life cycle costs of assets and extend their lifetime, while meeting safety requirements and improving the reliability, availability and maintainability of the rail system. IAM4RAIL will pave the way for the integration of asset condition information and TMS, enabling optimization of train routing decisions and improving the overall lifecycle of monitored assets. IAM4RAIL ensures an increased volume of rail traffic in existing lines with improved cost efficiency and lower CO2 emissions from their maintenance and operations. Furthermore, construction time and cost of new assets and lines are reduced, the durability and reliability of their assets increased, and their life cycle costs are optimized. Competitiveness of the European railway industry is strengthened through the obtention of more qualified products, and its application improves the performance (capacity, flexibility and punctuality) of the whole railway system.

This proposal is fully addressing the HORIZON-ER-JU-2022-FA4-01 call for project. It’s scope of work is covering the Sustainable and green rail systems including rolling stocks, infrastructures, stations and all of their related sub-systems. The objectives are to significantly progress on several families of Key Performance Indicators on different fields : technical ,environmental, economical, standardisation. The decarbonisation of Diesel trains, noise and vibration reduction, energy savings, circular economy, resource consumption, resilience to climate change and pandemic attack, attractiveness of passenger trains are at the heart of the proposed project. The consortium carrying out the project is made of recognized world-class know-how partners : operators, train and sub-sytems manufacturers, research and technology laboratories. It will perfectly identify the precise needs of operators including implicitly the European public policies of sustainable transports, including Climate Neutral Europe for 2050. It will provide the needed scientific and technical solutions via the development and demonstrations (up to TRL7) of new solutions increasing drastically the environmental performances of the railway holistic system. These new solutions will be proposed while verifying that they have viable economic models ensuring a rapid commercialization for the benefit of European citizens. Driven with a constant will for performance, the project will regularly quantify its KPIs progress and will communicate regularly with other ERJU projects as well as other European research entities such as Clean Hydrogen JU or Batt4EU so that all suitable synergies can be implemented. With the quality of its partners, its organization and its processes implemented for maximum efficiency, there is no doubt that this project will achieve all the project objectives set by the HORIZON-ER-JU-2022-FA4-01 Call.

Travel Wise's will support the shift from traffic management in silos to intermodal traffic orchestration by putting in place a methodology, a roadmap and the related technologies to allow for i) sharing of information between air and rail operators, ii) intermodal collaborative decision making both in nominal situations and in case of disruptions, iii) optimisation of passenger experience. Among others, Travel Wise will exploit the experience acquired in the air sector while building the Single European Sky and the European ATM architecture (EATMA) to share knowledge with the rail sector and support the progressive results of the System Pillar created by ERJU in the building of the European Single Railway Area and in the definition of the Rail System Architecture. To create an intermodal ecosystem and following the evolution of the ATM and rail sectors and their Master Plans, Travel Wise will exploit the full benefits of digitalisation, define a roadmap towards a common air-rail data space, extend the Collaborative Decision Making process to multimodality, develop integrated operations plans, and design, develop, implement and validate technical solutions for air-rail integrated traffic management in both nominal and non-nominal situations. This is guaranteed by the presence in the consortium of relevant members of both Joint Undertakings and a wide representation of end users ranging from airport and rail infrastructure managers, air and rail operators, air navigation service providers (ANSPs), other transport mode operators, relevant technology providers and research centres.