Imagine your railway network is like an old house — the wiring is outdated, you can't tell which appliance is eating all the electricity, and the front door gets jammed when too many people try to enter at once. IN2STEMPO built smart meters that track exactly where energy goes across the rail network, developed a kind of intelligent power grid specifically for trains, and redesigned how stations handle crowds and ticketing. They even ran a full-scale test at Warsaw East Station to prove it all works in the real world.
Railway operators across Europe face three costly problems: they cannot accurately track where energy is consumed across their networks, their power supply infrastructure is aging and inefficient, and their stations struggle with growing passenger volumes, poor accessibility, and outdated ticketing. Without smart metering and modern station management, operators overspend on energy while delivering a worse passenger experience.
The project produced 23 deliverables including a non-intrusive smart metering sensor network for railways, an open-source Operational Data Management platform, a railway smart grid concept integrating energy storage and power electronics, a Rail Industry Security and Vulnerability Assessment Model, and validated crowd management and station design solutions — all tested in a large-scale experiment at Warsaw East Station.
If you are a rail infrastructure operator dealing with rising energy costs and no visibility into where power is consumed across your network — this project developed a non-intrusive smart metering sensor network and an open-source data management platform that lets you monitor, analyze, and optimize energy use across your entire rail system. Tested with 31 partners across 11 countries.
If you are a station operator struggling with crowd bottlenecks, poor accessibility, and outdated ticketing — this project researched and tested improved crowd management systems, station design components, and new ticketing technologies. A large-scale experiment at Warsaw East Station validated these solutions in a real operating environment.
If you are an energy technology company looking to enter the rail sector — this project developed an interconnected railway smart grid integrating smart metering, energy storage systems, and power electronic components. With 20 industry partners already involved, the supply chain relationships and technical specifications are established.
The project data does not include specific per-unit or deployment costs. However, the system was designed to reduce lifecycle costs and optimize investment and operation costs. Contact the consortium for pricing based on your network size.
Yes. A large-scale experiment was conducted at Warsaw East Station, covering use case selection, experiment preparation, safety measures, and measured outcomes. The consortium of 31 partners across 11 countries indicates the solutions were designed for cross-border interoperability.
This was a Shift2Rail Research and Innovation Action with 31 partners including 20 industry organizations. IP arrangements would follow the Shift2Rail joint undertaking rules. Contact the coordinator Network Rail Infrastructure Limited for licensing terms on specific components.
The project was developed under Shift2Rail, the EU's dedicated rail research program, and aligns with its objectives for interoperability, reliability, and capacity. The open-source Operational Data Management platform was designed with open system interfaces for data collection and analysis.
The project ran from 2017 to 2023, producing 23 deliverables including validated large-scale experiments. The technologies are at a piloted stage. Based on available project data, deployment timelines would depend on your specific infrastructure and integration requirements.
The smart metering system was specifically designed as non-intrusive, meaning it can be layered onto existing rail infrastructure without major modifications. The open-source data management platform uses open interfaces for compatibility with existing systems.
Yes. The project produced a Rail Industry Security and Vulnerability Assessment Model — a quantitative method for assessing station vulnerability and security threat risk consistently across different locations.
This is a heavyweight rail industry consortium with 31 partners spanning 11 countries — one of the larger Shift2Rail projects. The 65% industry ratio (20 out of 31 partners) means the solutions were built by and for the rail sector, not just academic exercises. Network Rail Infrastructure Limited (UK) coordinated, bringing one of Europe's largest rail networks as the anchor. With partners from Austria, Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia, and the UK, interoperability across European rail systems was baked in from the start. The 4 universities and 3 research organizations provided the science, but industry clearly drove the requirements.
Network Rail Infrastructure Limited (UK) — reach out to their innovation or R&D partnerships team
Want to connect with the IN2STEMPO consortium for licensing or deployment? SciTransfer can arrange an introduction to the right technical contact.
