ST4RT · Project

Software That Makes Different Rail IT Systems Understand Each Other Automatically

transportTestedTRL 5

Imagine every European rail company speaks a different "data language" — their ticketing, scheduling, and after-sales systems can't talk to each other without expensive custom translations. ST4RT built a kind of universal translator that automatically converts data between these different formats using smart ontology-based mapping. Think of it like Google Translate, but for railway IT systems — so a ticket bought in France can be refunded in Italy without anyone manually reformatting the data. The technology was demonstrated on real rail industry platforms handling actual European rail data exchange specifications.

By the numbers

consortium partners across Europe

countries represented in the consortium

EUR 1,000,000

EU contribution to the project

total deliverables produced

demonstration deliverables including working prototypes

50%

industry partners in the consortium

The business problem

What needed solving

European rail operators and transport platforms waste significant time and money manually converting data between incompatible IT systems. Every time a passenger books a cross-border trip, or an operator needs to process an after-sales request from another country's system, someone has to bridge the gap between different data formats. This fragmentation slows down multimodal travel integration and drives up operational costs across the European rail network.

The solution

What was built

The project built working software prototypes of semantic data converters that automatically transform data between different rail IT formats using ontology-based mapping. Deliverables include a demonstration platform (hardware and software environment ready for testing), an archetypal converter implementation for ontological annotation and mapping (with documentation), and an adapted converter integrated with the IT2Rail semantic broker. In total, 14 deliverables were produced including 3 demonstration-level outputs.

Audience

Who needs this

National and regional rail operators exchanging passenger data across bordersMultimodal travel platforms integrating rail with other transport modesRail IT solution providers building ticketing and booking systemsPublic transport authorities managing data from multiple operatorsMobility-as-a-Service startups needing to connect heterogeneous transport data sources

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Rail Operators & Train Operating Companies

enterprise

Target: National or regional rail operators running legacy booking and after-sales systems

If you are a rail operator dealing with costly manual data conversions every time you exchange passenger or ticketing information with other European operators — this project developed semantic converter software that automatically transforms data between different rail IT formats. The demonstration platform was tested on actual TAP-TSI specification exchanges, the standard used across European rail. With 8 partners from 5 countries involved, the solution was designed for cross-border interoperability from day one.

Multimodal Transport Platforms

mid-size

Target: Travel aggregators and mobility-as-a-service providers integrating rail with other transport modes

If you are a multimodal travel platform struggling to integrate rail data alongside bus, air, and urban transit feeds — this project built converter prototypes that map between heterogeneous transport data formats using ontology-based automation. Instead of writing custom adapters for every new data source, the semantic broker approach lets you add new transport providers by describing their data structure rather than coding each integration from scratch.

Railway IT Solutions Providers

SME

Target: Software companies building ticketing, booking, or passenger information systems for rail

If you are a rail IT vendor whose clients demand compatibility with multiple European data exchange standards — this project created an archetypal converter implementation with documented software releases that handles ontological annotation and mapping. The technology extends the Shift2Rail Interoperability components, meaning it plugs into the emerging European standard for transport data exchange rather than being a proprietary solution.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to implement this data conversion technology?

The project received EUR 1,000,000 in EU funding across 8 partners over 2 years. Implementation costs for your organization would depend on the number of data formats you need to convert and your existing IT infrastructure. The converter prototypes are software-based, so the main costs would be integration and customization rather than hardware.

Can this scale to handle high transaction volumes across multiple rail operators?

The demonstration platform was tested on actual TAP-TSI specification exchanges — the European standard for rail data exchange used by operators across the continent. The technology was designed for runtime use on an existing industrial platform, suggesting it was built with production-scale operation in mind. However, specific throughput benchmarks are not available in the project data.

Who owns the intellectual property and can I license this technology?

The consortium of 8 partners across 5 countries jointly developed the technology under the Shift2Rail program. UNIFE, the European Rail Industry Association, coordinated the project. Licensing terms would need to be discussed with the consortium, but the Shift2Rail connection suggests the technology is intended for broad industry adoption.

How does this fit with existing European rail data standards?

The project specifically targets TAP-TSI specifications, which are the mandatory European standard for rail data exchange. It extends the Shift2Rail Interoperability components from the IT2Rail project, meaning it is designed to align with the official European rail digitalization roadmap rather than competing with it.

Is this ready to deploy or still experimental?

The project produced working software prototypes including converter implementations and a demonstration platform that was adapted and tested with hardware and software environments. Based on available project data, it reached the demonstration stage but would likely need further engineering for full commercial deployment.

How hard is it to integrate with our existing rail IT systems?

The converter technology was specifically designed to bridge heterogeneous data formats — meaning it handles the complexity of connecting different systems. The archetypal converter implementation comes with documentation and was demonstrated on an existing industrial platform for TAP-TSI exchanges, suggesting integration with standard rail IT infrastructure was a core design consideration.

Consortium

Who built it

The ST4RT consortium brings together 8 partners from 5 European countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Netherlands) with a strong industry orientation — 4 out of 8 partners are from industry, and 4 are SMEs, giving it a 50% industry ratio. The project was coordinated by UNIFE, the European Rail Industry Association, which represents the collective voice of the European rail supply industry. This means the technology was developed with direct input from the organizations that actually build and operate rail systems, not just academic researchers. The mix of 1 university, 1 research organization, and 4 industry players suggests the results are grounded in practical rail industry needs rather than purely theoretical research.

UNION DES INDUSTRIES FERROVIAIRES EUROPEENNES - UNIFECoordinator · BE
OLTIS GROUP ASparticipant · CZ
RINA CONSULTINGparticipant · BE
UNION INTERNATIONALE DES CHEMINS DE FERparticipant · FR
TRENITALIA SPAparticipant · IT
CEFRIEL SOCIETA CONSORTILE A RESPONSABILITA LIMITATA SOCIETA BENEFITparticipant · IT
HIT RAIL BVparticipant · NL
POLITECNICO DI MILANOparticipant · IT

How to reach the team

UNIFE (Union des Industries Ferroviaires Européennes) in Brussels, Belgium — the European rail industry association

Order a report on this consortium See UNION DES INDUSTRIES FERROVIAIRES EUROPEENNES - UNIFE profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to connect with the ST4RT team to explore licensing their semantic data conversion technology for your rail operations? SciTransfer can arrange an introduction and help you evaluate the fit.

Order a report on this topic More in Transport & Mobility