R2DATO

The goal of this project is to investigate the impact of human factors in ATO operation.

Project status and results

Europe’s mobility challenges for the upcoming decades, mentioned in Europe’s Rail Master Plan and Europe’s Rail Multi-Annual Work Plan (MAWP), and the urgent need for improvement of the European rail transport backbone triggered the FP2-R2DATO consortium partners to join forces and capabilities to propose innovative technologies, agile methods, and deployment strategies to meet these challenges through the digitalization and automation of Europe’s rail system. Digital technologies will support the required transformation of the transport system, making our mobility smarter, more efficient, and greener.

With digital technologies in rail, it shall be possible to achieve the goals set by the European Commission in 2020 for sustainable and smart mobility by means of R&I, such as:

• a shift of a substantial part of the 75% of inland freight carried by road towards transport by rail and inland waterways
• scheduled collective travel under 500 km to be carbon-neutral by 2030 within the EU
• traffic on high-speed rail will double by 2030 and triple by 2050
• rail freight traffic will increase by 50% by 2030 and double by 2050
  
• a fully operational, multimodal Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) for sustainable and smart transport with high-speed connectivity by 2050, improving the competitiveness of rail and supporting the European technological leadership in rail. In that sense, railway digitalization can improve environmental sustainability and cost efficiency while increasing safety levels and users’ satisfaction, thus contributing to the modal shift toward rail
  

This must be achieved through more advanced levels of automation, enhanced connectivity, and digitalized operations. In this context, the aim of FP2-R2DATO is to take the significant opportunity offered by digitalization and automation of rail operation and to develop the Next Generation ATC and deliver scalable automation in train operations, up to GoA4 for 2030, to enhance infrastructure capacity on the existing rail networks. Tangible results of FP2-R2DATO are expected to be delivered by 2025 for key enabling technologies, contributing to the required transformation of the European railway system. Having already investigated its potential intensively, the consortium partners are convinced that this technology step enables a more robust rail system, more capacity, and lower lead time against lower costs.
In FP2-R2DATO, the Operation and Maintenance Engineering Division will research the impact of human factors on adopting automatic train operation (ATO) in Sweden. This initiative establishes guidelines for the personnel directly involved in ATO operations. The findings are poised to pave the way for the future integration of ATO in Swedish railway systems, addressing the challenges posed by human factors. The research, rooted in Swedish case studies, will be conducted in collaboration with EU partners to ensure robust and comparative results.

LTU will work closely with experts from the Swedish Transport Agency, fostering a synergistic approach among various stakeholders, including several project partners associated with the Swedish Transport Administration. LTU’s contribution will be viewed through a systems perspective, aiming to create and capitalize on synergies across all parties involved. The Swedish Transport Administration will enhance these synergies to deliver a holistic system solution.