FP2 R2DATO — Digital & Automated up to Autonomous Train Operations

Scope

Europe's Rail Flagship Project 2 develops the next-generation automatic train control and scalable digital and automated — up to autonomous — train operation (DATO) to increase capacity on existing networks, covering ATO, ETCS Hybrid Level 3 and Level 3 moving block, 5G connectivity and a standardised on-board ICT platform. Its freely downloadable deliverables give suppliers, railway undertakings and infrastructure managers specifications and migration guidance for cost-effective DATO deployment across Europe.

Flagship Project 2, R2DATO, is one of Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking's flagship research projects, developing the next generation of automatic train control and scalable digital and automated -- up to fully autonomous -- train operation (DATO) to increase capacity on existing rail infrastructure without requiring new physical track capacity. Its work covers Automatic Train Operation (ATO) up to higher grades of automation, ETCS Hybrid Level 3 and Level 3 moving-block operation (which allow trains to run closer together than fixed-block signalling permits), 5G-based connectivity, and a standardised on-board ICT platform intended to reduce integration cost across suppliers. The project is funded under Horizon Europe call HORIZON-ER-JU-2022-01, part of the broader Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking research programme that succeeded the earlier Shift2Rail initiative. Its deliverables, freely downloadable from the project's page, give suppliers, railway undertakings and infrastructure managers specifications and migration guidance for planning cost-effective DATO deployment. As a research project rather than a binding standard, its outputs feed into future standardisation and into the Europe's Rail System Pillar's specification work rather than being directly mandatory requirements themselves.