The R&D project TARO has been running since summer 2020 and was successfully closed in December 2023. A total of 17 project partners from industry, research & development and ÖBB were involved in the project. The project, with total project costs of about 6,2 Mio. EUR (appr. 3,5 Mio. EUR funding) was funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency and the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection. The project addressed specific railway challenges, which were defined by Infrastructure Manager, Railway Undertaking and Entity in Charge of Maintenance and can now either gradually be transferred into real operations or further processed in ongoing R&D projects (e.g. Europe´s Rail Joint Undertaking). The following project goals were achieved in the 6 technical work packages:
Work Package 2 Digital Twin Vehicle
Together with the Austrian Institute of Technology, ÖBB-Technische Services was able to create the basis for a digital twin vehicle, derived from concrete use cases (e.g. error messages in the area of air conditioning and door malfunctions). The results will now be further developed and contribute to passenger satisfaction through better vehicle availability.
Work Package 3 Digital Twin Infrastructure
The project partners ÖBB-Infrastruktur, Joanneum Research, Rechenraum and FH Campus Wien were able to successfully develop methods for the digitalisation of existing routes and the development of a digital twin infrastructure as well as a simulation tool for a people mover.
Work Package 4 Network Optimization
University of Klagenfurt, Anexia GmbH and Rail Cargo Austria have jointly designed a mathematical model for the optimized scheduling of freight wagons. This will be now gradually incorporated into operations, make dispatchers work easier and rail freight more efficient.
Work Package 5 Automation in Rail Freight Transport
In this work package, Rail Cargo Austria and Graz University of Technology accompanied and evaluated the tests of the Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC) in Austria and developed migration strategies.
Work Package 6 Shunting of the Future
Together with TU Graz, ÖBB-Infrastruktur has developed a simulation tool for mapping shunting yards. The results are expected to lower costs and increase productivity of shunting yards.
Work Package 7 Regional Railway Technology of the Future
The project partners Austrian Institute of Technology, EBE Solutions, FH Oberösterreich, Renercon, Supercomputing Systems, Zelisko and ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG, have developed and successfully tested a simplified train control system for regional railways, Massive MIMO Signal Testing as well as an energy-autonomous railway crossing and system for early train detection based on acoustic sensors.