📋 Tender Overview
Siemens Mobility awarded major framework agreement to digitalize OBBs interlocking technology
Signaling X software architecture integrates interlocking, ETCS control and safety technology, and cybersecurity
Pilot operations from 2030 to kick off the nationwide rollout in Austria
Siemens Mobility has been awarded a contract worth approximately EUR1.3 billion by OBB-Infrastruktur AG to digitalize Austrias interlocking technology. The contract was awarded as part of a long-term framework agreement with a total volume of EUR2.6 billion. This agreement forms the basis for the phased, nationwide rollout of digital interlockings (DSTW) in Austria, starting with a pilot project in the fourth quarter of 2030. At the heart of this modernization is Signaling X, Siemens Mobilitys integrated technology platform for the digital transformation of signaling and control systems. The software-based, cloud-ready architecture integrates interlockings, the ETCS train control system, and cybersecurity applications on a common technological foundation. As such, Signaling X creates the necessary conditions for the step-by-step modernization of the OBB rail network. By consistently decoupling software and hardware, the technology enables greater operational flexibility, significantly increases capacity, and strengthens the digital resilience of the rail network.
Siemens Mobility awarded major framework agreement to digitalize OBBs interlocking technology
Siemens to supply Signaling X for Austrias rail infrastructure
We are proud to partner with OBB in shaping the future of Austrias rail network. At the heart of this transformation is Signaling X, our software-based and cloud-ready technology for the next generation of signaling and control systems. It intelligently moves interlocking logic into centralized data centers, thereby digitalizing rail operations from the ground up, said Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility. What we successfully began in 2020 with the pilot project in Achau, we are now bringing this solution or it into nationwide application together. By doing so, OBB-Infrastruktur AG is taking an international pioneering role and creating the foundation for increased capacity, maximum reliability, and a sustainable and more resilient rail operation in Austria.
Digital interlocking technology is a key technology for the railway of the future. With this contract award, we are setting the course for the comprehensive digitalization of our signaling systems and creating the foundation for making rail transport in Austria even more efficient, robust, and high-performing. In doing so, OBB is also setting new international standards in digital traffic management, said Johann Pluy, Member of the Board of OBB-Infrastruktur AG.
The framework agreement covers the entire spectrum of modern interlocking technology: from indoor systems, where the safety-critical logic based on Signaling X runs on standard IT servers, to outdoor equipment. Here, state-of-the-art object controllers are used to ensure the precise control of signals, switches, and other critical infrastructure elements. The contract is set for a term of at least ten years and is supplemented by a comprehensive service agreement. This ensures technical support, maintenance, and maximum system availability over the entire 25-year system lifecycle.
The implementation of this major project will follow a structured, multi-stage process. Following the planned commissioning of the first pilot project in the fourth quarter of 2030, further pilot phases will follow to optimally adapt the technology to the entire network. Once this phase is successfully completed, the nationwide rollout will begin with the long-term goal of replacing all existing interlocking systems with the new digital generation.
About Signaling X
Signaling X is Siemens Mobilitys innovative, software-based, and virtualized architecture for digital rail infrastructure. The system provides an integrated technology platform that brings together previously separate functions - such as interlocking technology, the ETCS train control system, diagnostic systems, and cybersecurity applications - in a digital and cloud-ready environment. By consistently decoupling safety logic from proprietary hardware, Signaling X enables the use of standard IT components (Commercial Off-the-Shelf, COTS) and the centralization of control in modern data centers. For infrastructure operators, this means significantly greater flexibility, simplified maintenance, and a substantial increase in rail network capacity and reliability - all while maintaining the highest safety standards through an integrated Zero-Trust cybersecurity model.
Pioneering work as the foundation for the nationwide rollout
The now-finalized rollout builds on a successful technological history: As early as 2020, Siemens Mobility smoothly commissioned a digital interlocking as a pilot project in Achau, just outside Vienna, proving the technologys practical viability. This pioneering work, combined with the ongoing deployment of ETCS Level 2 across the entire OBB rail network by 2038, forms the basis for digital transformation. By combining ETCS and digital interlockings based on Signaling X, OBB-Infrastruktur AG is taking an international pioneering role and creating one of the most modern and high-performance rail networks in the world.
