The Smart Rail Via Vindobona conference is an international conference focussing on the Vienna-Prague-Dresden-Berlin rail axis. It is organised in cooperation with the TU Wien, TU Prague and TU Dresden and, in addition to highly interesting specialist presentations with reference to and ongoing insights and up-to-date information about the important corridor and with the necessary complementary view beyond the horizon, it also aims to create an active network of stakeholders from the three countries along the axis as well as from neighbouring countries and all interested parties.

Retrospect

Welcome and introduction

The Smart Rail Via Vindobona conference took place for the first time on 28 and 29 January 2025. As host, Prof Bernhard Rüger welcomed 75 international guests and speakers from the countries bordering the Via Vindobona - Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria - as well as from Denmark, Switzerland, Slovakia and Hungary to the ballroom of TU Wien.

After the welcome address, Dr Rudolf Heidu (TU Prague) introduced the conference with an overview of the history of the Via Vindobona corridor and its relevance today. Among other things, he brought with him pictures of historic passenger trains that were used on the Via Vindobona and symbolised the culture of travelling between Dresden, Prague and Vienna. As the Central European economic areas grow together, an attractive and smart railway connection between these cities will play an increasingly important role in the future

Via Vindobona corridor

The first thematic block focussed on the integration of the Via Vindobona into the European corridors and corresponding national plans. Mr Petr Provazník (Správa železnic) began by outlining the European perspective. Two corridors of the TEN-T core network run in sections along the Via Vindobona, the Baltic-Adriatic corridor and the Rhine-Danube corridor. This highlights the need to upgrade the relevant routes and make them suitable for cross-border passenger and freight transport. Subsequently, several ongoing European route expansions on the Via Vindobona in the Czech Republic were presented.

The European perspective was followed by representatives of the infrastructure managers of Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany, who reported on the expansion plans for the rail network in their respective countries. Mr Viktor Plank (ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG) explained the planning process behind the draft of the 2040 target network and also emphasised the goal of making ÖBB's mobility sector CO₂-neutral by 2035. The projects in the extended Via Vindobona feeder line, which are already part of the current framework plan up to 2029 or the 2040 target network, were also highlighted.

Dr Roman Štěrba (Správa železnic) presented the strategic goals and expansion projects of Správa železnic in the Czech Republic. These included the construction of new high-speed lines, the standardisation of electrification and the creation of favourable conditions for multimodal freight transport. For example, around 50% of the rail network and 90% of vehicles in the Czech Republic are to be equipped with ETCS by 2030. The planned high-speed lines should reduce the journey time from Prague to Ústí nad Labem and Brno to around 40 and 60 minutes respectively by 2040.

Mr Kay Müller (DB InfraGO) presented the expansion projects on the German side, which are related to the new Dresden - Prague line. The state treaty, which is to regulate cooperation between the authorities, maintenance and operational management of the planned Erzgebirge tunnel across the border between Germany and the Czech Republic, is currently being negotiated. The adjoining Berlin - Dresden section to the north will also be expanded and is to be equipped with ETCS and upgraded for speeds of up to 200 km/h by the end of 2029.

Measures for high-frequency corridors

After the lunch break, the second thematic block "Measures for high-frequency corridors" began with strategic capacity planning in mixed operation. Dr Michal Drábek (TU Prague) presented options for integrated strategic capacity planning. Railway infrastructure companies are faced with the challenge of taking into account both the long-term stable demand in synchronised passenger transport and the short-term demand in freight transport in capacity planning. His conclusion is that, in addition to international coordination between railway infrastructure companies, maintaining zero symmetry in the nodes is crucial for planning, while it is possible to deviate from zero symmetry locally in order to resolve train path conflicts.

Swiss approaches to increasing capacity were presented by Mr Dominic Stucki (SBB) under the motto "brains instead of concrete". The approaches are based on the realisation that the proportion of door-to-door rail journeys is below 50% on average. In order to be able to offer customers a good service even without costly infrastructure expansion, it is therefore necessary to think beyond the system boundaries of the railway and include mobility at local level. He also presented innovative approaches in operational planning to increase capacity on the railway.

Dr Thomas Maly (Vienna University of Technology) presented the EU-wide standardised prediction model for noise immissions, which must be used by all member states for strategic noise mapping. Using exemplary calculations, he demonstrated the effects of increased traffic volumes and various input parameters on the noise forecast for a railway line.

Dr Ulrich Maschek (TU Dresden) concluded the second block with the topic of ETCS transitions at national borders. He discussed problems that can arise due to changes in national values when crossing a national border in Europe with ETCS and approaching a stop. He also showed possible solutions in the event that different ETCS baselines are used on both sides of a national border and the RBC coupling does not work as a result.

Infrastructure measures and test tracks

In the late afternoon, infrastructure measures and test environments were discussed. Dr Andreas Oberhauser (Global Rail) and Mr Peter Juel Jensen (Plasser & Theurer) emphasised the importance of data-driven predictive maintenance, especially for high-performance routes, in their presentation "Predictive maintenance - also in heavily used corridors" at . The condition data of the infrastructure enables targeted planning of the necessary measures, the timely start of tendering procedures and minimised closure times. Using the example of fault prediction from Denmark, Mr Jensen explained how condition data can be used to extend maintenance intervals in coordination with the national safety authority

Dr Matthias Hofmann (BBT SE) reported on the challenges in tunnel construction for long, high-speed tunnels, especially in cross-border cases. In addition to the railway engineering challenges posed by a national border, he also discussed the planning challenges of the Brenner Base Tunnel as an example.

Dr Kristian Weiland (DB InfraGO) showed what effects the increased networking of "digital control and safety technology" has on the safety verification and approval structure of a product. A reference environment with which product qualifications can be tested and approved is intended to provide a remedy. The reference environment can be networked with different partners, manufacturers and test laboratories for customised tests and enables scaling in implementation.

Dr Falk Angermann gave an introduction to the open digital test field of the German Centre for Rail Transport Research (DZSF), which is intended to serve innovation in the rail transport sector and enable the planned tests in real operations of all kinds, including noise and vibration protection. The contiguous area in eastern Germany has a diverse rail network with various train control systems and intermodal networking options. The DZSF is currently converting a carriage into a test vehicle that can  equipped with measurement technology for test runs and used flexibly within the test field.

Finish

After an exciting day with many informative presentations, Prof Bernhard Rüger thanked all the speakers and listeners for their great interest and referred to the further conferences in Prague in 2026 and Dresden in 2027 as well as the second day of the conference with two special excursions, as shown below. The first day of the conference came to a cosy end with an evening buffet in the spirit of networking.

Excursions

On the morning of the second day of the conference, after travelling by train via the "Semmeringbahn" World Heritage Site, an excursion was made to the construction site of the Semmering Base Tunnel on the Styrian side in Mürzzuschlag. After a very informative presentation on the history, planning and finally the construction of the base tunnel by Mr Michael Trittin from the Semmering project management of ÖBB- Infrastruktur AG, the participants had the opportunity to  a little over 500 metres into the western tunnel tube to see the structure in all its dimensions.

After travelling back together via the Semmering Railway, Mr Andreas Mühlsteiger from ÖBB Technical Services gave a guided tour of the Simmering plant in the afternoon. In addition to the opportunity to view a new ÖBB nightjet train from the inside, there were also many insights into the maintenance of passenger coaches.

Outlook

The first Smart Rail Via Vindobona event can be considered a complete success, as evidenced by the numerous positive responses. This conference will take place on a rotating basis at one of the cooperation locations TU Vienna, TU Prague and TU Dresden. The conference will take place in Prague on 27 and 28 January 2026 and in Dresden at the beginning of 2027.

Key data on the conference

• 28./29. 1. 2025
• Conference language German/English
• Location: TU Wien, Karlsplatz 13, 1st floor, Festsaal

Programme

Tue, 28.1.2025 –  presentations with dinner afterwards

9:30 – Arrival, Networking/Breakfast

10:00 – Introduction

• 10:00  Welcome (Bernhard Rüger – TU Wien)
• 10:10  Historical and current significance of the "Via Vindobona" corridor (Rudolf Heidu – TU Prague, Paul Liebhart – Amt der NÖ Landesregierung)

10:40 – Block 1: Classification in European corridors and corresponding national plans

• 10:40  European perspective (Petr Provazník - Správa železnic [International])
• 11:05  Expansion plans in Austria (Viktor Plank – ÖBB Infrastruktur AG)
• 11:30  Expansion plans in the Czech Republic (Roman Štěrba – Správa železnic [Strategie])
• 11:55  Expansion plans in Germany (Kay Müller – DB InfraGO)

12:20 – Networking/lunch

13:30 – Block 2: Measures for high-frequency corridors

• 13:30  Strategic capacity planning in mixed operation (Michal Drábek – TU Prague)
• 13:55  Brains instead of concrete - Swiss approaches to increasing capacity yesterday, today and tomorrow (Dominic Stucki – SBB)
• 14:20  Noise prediction with increased traffic according to the European model (Thomas Maly – TU Wien)
• 14:45  Control and safety technology (Ulrich Maschek – TU Dresden)

15:10 – Networking/coffee break

15:30 – Block 3: Infrastructure measures and test tracks

• 15:30  Maintenance and predictive maintenance for busy corridors (Andreas Oberhauser – Global Rail, Peter Juel Jensen – Plasser & Theurer)
• 15:55  Special challenges in tunnel construction for long tunnels travelling at high speeds (NN – ÖBB Infrastruktur AG)
• 16:20  Simplified verification of DLST (digital control and safety technology) with a reference environment (Kristian Weiland – DB InfraGO)
• 16:45  DZSF test field (Falk Angermann – DZSF)
• 17:05  SRCC Annaberg-Buchholz (Sören Claus  - SRCC GmbH)

17:25 – Conference conclusion

from 17:30 Networking/Dinner

 

Wed., 29.1.2025 Excursions

Excursion to the Semmering Base Tunnel:

Meeting point at Mürzzuschlag railway station: 10:30 (arrival from Vienna main station 8:58)

Project presentation and excursion into the tunnel (limited number of participants: max. 40 people)

Duration: approx. 3 h

Return journey to Vienna: Mürzzuschlag from 13:33 / Vienna main station to 15:02

ÖBB Technical Services Vienna Simmering 15:30 - 17:00