Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups working on innovative solutions for the railway sector. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we want to share our insights with you. This time, we are taking a look at 5 promising railway engineering startups.
Heat Map: 5 Top Railway Engineering Startups
Using our StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering 1.379.000+ startups & scaleups globally, we looked at innovation in the field of railway engineering. For this research, we identified 88 relevant solutions and picked 5 to showcase below. These companies were chosen based on a data-driven startup scouting approach, taking into account factors such as location, founding year, and relevance of technology, among others. Depending on your specific criteria, the top picks might look entirely different.
The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 5 startups & scaleups developing railway engineering solutions. Moreover, the Heat Map reveals regions that observe a high startup activity and illustrates the geographic distribution of all 88 companies we analyzed for this specific topic.
Rail Monitor – Track Bed Diagnostics Sensors
With increasing expectations of safety and reliability from travelers and rail network operators, railway engineers elaborate track & wheel diagnostics systems that determine general rail health conditions. Besides, emerging companies utilize advanced vibration and temperature analysis to develop novel sensor-based railway products.
Denmark-based startup Rail Monitor engineers new solutions for effective track bed observation and maintenance. The startup combines the Internet of Things (IoT) with wireless sensing technology to identify the condition and movements of track & track beds around-the-clock. Furthermore, Rail Monitor’s products allow rail operators to monitor the effects of temperature, groundwater, and the impact of adjacent construction processes on rail tracks.
SDEA Solutions – Railroad Network Design
Engineering and construction of new railways, as well as upgrades to existing ones, require methodical planning and design. Nowadays startups and scaleups create new models of railway networks to address smart city transit challenges and satisfy passenger needs. Innovative companies further use new analytics and optimization tools to achieve these goals.
Spanish startup SDEA Solutions blends its expertise in planning and engineering to offer advanced rail network design solutions. SDEA applies finite element analysis (FEA), computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and process engineering to create rail infrastructure design and also implement rail electrification projects.
TekTracking – Grade Crossing Devices
Collisions at highway-railway grade crossings spur rail engineers to focus on manufacturing high-performing electronic crossing products. Further, the industry is also witnessing control systems shifting towards industry 4.0 requirements. Startups and emerging companies are developing new devices to increase safety at railway crossings.
The US-based startup TekTracking offers a new security technology for railway grade crossings. The startup’s Connected Crossing combines various sensors to keep track of multiple operating parameters in the crossing area. The startup engineers an edge image processor, crossing serial port interpreter, bus bar monitor, digital storage oscilloscope, and external sensors. These are then merged with a powerful analytics engine, with the intention of meeting high safety standards.
Angel Star – Onboard Signaling and Control
When engineering railway systems, it is vital to maintain a viable connection and communication between onboard and trackside components. Emerging companies manufacture passive and active control devices, radio units, and signaling tools. In addition to driver-machine and passenger interfaces, such systems also help interconnect onboard and trackside rail subsystems.
Italian startup Angel Star engineers and develops European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS )-consent requirements onboard signaling and control systems for railways. In addition, Angel Star diligently combines innovative hardware and software to attain Safety Integrity Level 4 (SIL4) compliance. This further guarantees the required level of onboard signaling operation in a fast-paced railway environment.
Rail Vision – Innovative Light Rail Systems
Nowadays engineers strive to make light rail more sustainable, less dangerous, and suitable enough for specific urban topologies. Moreover, some of the most valued features include the prevention of overspeeding and obstacle detection. Startups and scaleups produce smart railway solutions to assist operators, travelers, and city authorities engineer more streamlined light rail systems.
Israeli startup Rail Vision combines electro-optic sensors, artificial intelligence, and deep learning algorithms to build a novel light rail transit system. The solution detects and clusters objects at a distance of up to 200 meters, in challenging weather and light conditions. The system possesses the features of human and vehicle detection, signaling, and pathfinding, as well as automated emergency braking, among others.
What About The Other 83 Solutions?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview and provide actionable innovation intelligence and enable you to achieve your goals faster. The 5 railway engineering startups showcased above are promising examples out of 88 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria, get in touch.
