Self-Driving Train Technologies That Cut Crew Costs and Boost Rail Capacity

Imagine trains that can "see" their surroundings, detect obstacles on the track, and drive themselves — much like self-driving cars, but on rails. TAURO brought together 24 companies and research groups across Europe to build the foundational tech for this: cameras and sensors that understand what's ahead, remote control rooms where one operator can supervise multiple trains, and onboard systems that constantly check whether the train is healthy. Think of it as giving trains their own eyes, a remote pilot, and a built-in mechanic — all working together so trains can eventually run without a driver in the cab.

What needed solving

European rail operators face growing pressure from driver shortages, rising crew costs, and the need to run more trains on existing tracks without expensive infrastructure expansion. Meanwhile, rail must compete with road freight and air travel on cost and frequency. Autonomous train operation could solve all three — but the technology needs to work with existing European signalling standards, not replace them.

What was built

TAURO produced 15 deliverables across four technical areas: environment perception sensors for obstacle detection, remote driving and command systems for supervising trains from a control centre, automatic onboard health monitoring and diagnostics, and migration technologies for layering Automatic Train Operation on top of existing ETCS signalling. A live demonstrator was showcased at InnoTrans 2022.

Who needs this

Who can put this to work

Quick answers

Who built it

This is a heavily industry-driven consortium: 21 out of 24 partners are private companies, giving it an 88% industry ratio — unusually high even for rail projects. The coordinator is CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles), one of Europe's largest train manufacturers, headquartered in Spain. The 8-country spread across Central and Western Europe (AT, BE, CH, CZ, DE, ES, FR, IT) covers the major European rail markets. Notably, there are zero universities — all academic-style work is handled by 2 research organizations. Only 1 SME is involved, reflecting the capital-intensive nature of rail technology. For a business looking to engage, this means the technology was developed by companies that build, operate, and maintain railways — not ivory-tower research. The results are designed for industrial adoption.

• Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, S.A.Coordinator · ES
• HITACHI RAIL GTS DEUTSCHLAND GMBHparticipant · DE
• HITACHI RAIL STS SPAparticipant · IT
• DEUTSCHE BAHN AGparticipant · DE
• KONTRON TRANSPORTATION DEUTSCHLAND GMBHthirdparty · DE
• SOCIETE NATIONALE SNCFparticipant · FR
• DB INFRAGO AGthirdparty · DE
• BOMBARDIER TRANSPORTATION SIGNAL GERMANY GMBHthirdparty · DE
• DEUTSCHES ZENTRUM FUR LUFT - UND RAUMFAHRT EVparticipant · DE
• ALSTOM BELGIUM SAthirdparty · BE
• SIEMENS MOBILITY GMBHparticipant · DE
• INDRA SISTEMAS SAparticipant · ES
• MER MEC SPAparticipant · IT
• ALSTOM SCHWEIZ AGparticipant · CH
• KNORR-BREMSE SYSTEME FUR SCHIENENFAHRZEUGE GMBHparticipant · DE
• ALSTOM TRANSPORTATION GERMANY GMBHthirdparty · DE
• CAF SIGNALLING S.Lthirdparty · ES
• RAILENIUMparticipant · FR
• FAIVELEY TRANSPORT ITALIA SPAparticipant · IT
• AZD PRAHA SROparticipant · CZ
• ALSTOM TRANSPORT SAparticipant · FR
• SNCF VOYAGEURSthirdparty · FR
• KONTRON TRANSPORTATION GmbHparticipant · AT
• CONSTRUCCIONES Y AUXILIAR DE FERROCARRILES INVESTIGACION Y DESARROLLO SLthirdparty · ES