Ceit, founding member of Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking, the new European R&D&I alliance dedicated to the railway sector

●    The Ceit technology centre has completed the process to become a founding member of Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking, a continuation of Shift2Rail, which will centralise European research and development in the rail industry over the next ten years

●    As part of the initiative, the centre will develop new technologies in areas such as maintenance, signalling and logistics for future transfer to companies, contributing to the transformation of the sector

●    Ceit is one of two technology centres selected as founding members, a milestone made possible by its more than 25 years of experience in the railway sector

The technology centre Ceit, member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), has completed this week the process to become a founding member of the new European alliance Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-Rail), continuation of the European initiative Shift2Rail, which will centralise European research and development in the railway field for the next 10 years, until 2031.

Participation in the alliance will allow Ceit to develop new technologies in the fields of maintenance, signalling and logistics, among others. These developments will be materialised in demonstrators for future transfer to companies, contributing to the transformation of the railway sector.

Specifically, the centre will work on the development of an autonomous auscultation vehicle, a logistics platform and various associated systems for future rail transport, a metal infrastructure repair system based on additive manufacturing, as well as different solutions for maintenance assistance.

Moreover, as a founding member of the alliance, the centre will be able to finance multiple lines of research ranging from robotics, additive manufacturing, power electronics, digital twins, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, signalling and inspection systems.

As José María Rodríguez Ibabe, executive president of Ceit, explains, 'Ceit's involvement in this new alliance will allow the centre to develop new technologies that can be transferred to the market, contributing to the transformation of the railway sector'.

In this sense, Ceit has been collaborating for more than 25 years with the main companies in the railway sector thanks to the solutions it offers the industry in energy optimisation, railway dynamics, smart maintenance or new materials and processes, among other capabilities.

Alliance to transform Europe's railway sector

Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking (ERJU) brings together Europe's 25 leading organisations in the railway sector, including only two technology centres as founding members: the German Aerospace Centre DLR and Ceit. The alliance will finance the various projects with €600 million. The ERJU's mission will focus on accelerating research, development and demonstrations of innovative technologies and operational solutions for future deployment and transfer to companies in the sector, in order to meet EU policies towards its goals of sustainability, digitisation and social inclusion, among others.