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Germany's crisis-hit rail operator looks to AI future. Clement KASSER Fri, October 2, 2026 at 2:58 AM PDT From AI-assisted trains to autonomous road shuttles, Germany's rail operator Deutsche Bahn - long the country's laughingstock for its poor punctuality - is working on the future of mobility. But for now that transformation is complicated by red tape and the high costs of upgrading railway infrastructure. At the recent InnoTrans trade fair in Berlin, a meeting place for global rail giants, experts got a glimpse of the future: a brightly coloured train unit dubbed the "Automated Train" sat parked amid the stands. It can travel driverless from a rail depot to a station at speeds of up to 40 kilometres per hour. Using LiDAR (laser radar technology), ultrasonic sensors and infrared cameras, it can detect hazards on the track and brake automatically. The economy ministry has subsidised the programme with 42 million euros ($47 million) as part of a plan to spend 100 billion euros through 2030 on modernising Deutsche Bahn's dilapidated infrastructure after decades of underinvestment. "Rail transport must get back to delivering high performance," Transport Minister Steffen Bilger said at the trade fair's opening. In Germany, a country once known for precision, punctuality and trains that run on time, that is a work in progress. In recent years, chronic delays on German trains have become a constant source of frustration and a punchline. And works to upgrade the system for the future are sparking more trouble in the short term. For example, a major rail corridor between Berlin and Hanover will soon be shuttered for 14 months for rebuilding work. In the meantime, passengers will have to take longer alternate routes or switch to slower buses. - Frustrated passengers - At InnoTrans, industry heavyweights such as Germany's Siemens, China's CRRC and France's Alstom demonstrated how data could improve train operations and maintenance. Deutsche Bahn meanwhile was showcasing a virtual passenger assistant that is set to launch this year. However, progress in digitalisation - the foundation for the deployment of AI - remains limited in Germany. The railway booster group Allianz Pro Schiene noted with regret that less than two percent of the national network was equipped with the European Train Control System (ETCS), a standardised protection technology, as of 2025, compared to a European average of nine percent. Meanwhile, autonomous high-speed rail travel has been a reality in China since 2019, operating at speeds of 350 kph (220 mph). In France, several cities have operated automated metro lines for years, whereas Germany has only one, in the midsize city of Nuremberg. According to a study by the consulting firm BCG, AI in railways could save $36 billion to $79 billion in costs and add $20 billion to $50 billion in additional annual revenue worldwide. However, the firm notes that "a large part of the sector is still struggling to turn these experiments into measurable results". For the Spanish robotics start-up Ostirion, "the rail industry is quite conservative, and you really have to win it over", its technical manager Lidia Garcia said. Targeting the German market, the company aims to "relieve" drivers of repetitive and arduous tasks through its AI solutions. She said Ostirion could also help Deutsche Bahn improve its relations with passengers, who are "often frustrated" by inaccurate schedules and chaotic communications. - Union sceptical - Belgian start-up OTIV is working with Deutsche Bahn on assistance systems ranging from collision prevention to full automation. At its stand at InnoTrans, visitors could remotely operate a freight train in the Netherlands using a full-scale dashboard. Could this soon become a reality for passenger transport? German regulations complicate matters, OTIV's chief Sam de Smet said, referring to bureaucratic burdens the government has repeatedly promised to ease. "There is still a huge amount of work to be done regarding authorisations and evolving regulations so that we can truly start using these innovative technologies," he said. Garcia at Ostirion agreed, saying that while innovations used to take decades to implement, "with AI and other robotic applications, everything is moving much faster". Deutsche Bahn is considering replacing its regional bus lines with autonomous shuttles, but sees a possible rollout only toward 2045. Private industry is moving much more quickly, with the US company Waymo planning to launch robotaxis in Munich by late 2027. In Germany, the digital transformation also faces scepticism from the train drivers' union GDL. Its president, Mario Reiss, told AFP that it would "watch very closely to see if the promise of simplification suddenly turns into an argument for further job cuts". "We are really trying to address the staff shortage, not replace drivers," said Milo Belien, a software engineer at Futurail, a French-German start-up that automates trains. kas/alf/fz/bst/js

From remote-controlled trains to hydrogen locomotives: 6 InnoTrans innovations that could change rail travel. By Iuliia Tore / Sep 25, 2026 / 3 minutes of reading Table of Contents A train in the Netherlands controlled from Berlin, a Chinese metro packed with artificial intelligence and a regional train capable of traveling 273 kilometres without overhead electricity are among the technologies on show at InnoTrans 2026. The Berlin transport exhibition is hosting a record 3,170 exhibitors from 59 countries between September 22 and 25, alongside 180 world premieres and 113 railway vehicles from 17 countries. Artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous operation and alternatives to diesel propulsion dominate this year's exhibition, showing how quickly experimental rail technologies are moving toward real passenger and freight operations. A train was controlled from 696 kilometres away. Belgian technology company OTIV staged one of the exhibition's most unusual demonstrations by remotely controlling a train at Kijfhoek freight yard in the Netherlands from its stand at InnoTrans in Berlin. The operator was approximately 696 kilometres from the train, using live onboard camera feeds and a wireless connection to control the vehicle remotely. The technology is aimed initially at operations such as depots and shunting yards, where remote driving could allow staff to control vehicles without being physically inside every train. OTIV is also developing driver-assistance and autonomous rail technologies. China's CRRC, meanwhile, unveiled its VELLINK SmartMetro platform. The manufacturer says lightweight materials and integrated systems reduce vehicle weight by around 18% compared with conventional urban trains while lowering overall energy consumption by more than 10%. The train incorporates AI into vehicle control and condition monitoring, allowing systems to analyse equipment and infrastructure data and potentially identify maintenance problems before failures occur. Hydrogen moves from experiment to full-size trains. CRRC is also showing a 2,000kW hydrogen fuel-cell hybrid locomotive from its VELFORCE platform. The locomotive uses a 400kW dual-stack fuel-cell system and can be refuelled with hydrogen in around 15 to 20 minutes. CRRC says its hydrogen utilisation rate exceeds 98%, while onboard deep-learning systems combine information from multiple sensors to provide a 360-degree view around the locomotive. Stadler is presenting another hydrogen milestone: what InnoTrans describes as the world's first hydrogen-powered train designed for narrow-gauge railway lines. The technology is particularly relevant to regions where replacing diesel trains with conventional electric units would require expensive installation of overhead wires. Italian regions are among the first customers for Stadler's hydrogen narrow-gauge platform. CAF's battery train travels 273km without overhead power. Spanish manufacturer CAF is showing a production Civity battery-electric Class 557 being prepared for Germany's Rhein-Ruhr network. During tests at Wildenrath in August, the train travelled 273 kilometres exclusively on battery power using standard production lithium-titanate traction batteries. Battery trains can draw electricity normally on electrified sections and then continue through unelectrified stretches without switching to diesel, potentially avoiding the enormous cost of installing overhead power along every kilometre of a regional railway. CAF says data from the test will feed into future battery-electric projects as operators increasingly look for ways to eliminate diesel from partially electrified networks. Robots are moving onto the railway itself. System7 Rail Holding is presenting an automated continuous-action tamping system designed to work on two sleepers simultaneously. Tamping machines pack and reposition ballast beneath railway tracks, an essential but traditionally labour-intensive part of maintaining track geometry. Other exhibitors are showing autonomous rail taxis, unmanned vehicles and AI-based infrastructure inspection systems. Together, the technologies suggest that the future of rail is likely to involve more than faster trains. The biggest changes may come from how trains are powered, controlled, monitored and maintained - and several of the systems on display in Berlin are already moving beyond the prototype stage. Iuliia is the editor-in-chief and oversees all editorial content.She was born and raised in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Iuliia is passionate about all aspects of travel and tourism and holds a Master's degree in International Tourism Management.Iuliia Tore lives for two houses in Kharkiv and in Valencia, Spain, and loves spending time outdoors. Work aside, she has a passion for travel, painting, arts, food, and culture.