OpenRail Association

@[email protected]
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The OpenRail Association provides a neutral space for collaborative development of Open Source software in the railway sector.

It is incorporated as a non-profit organisation according to Belgian law as AISBL.

Websitehttps://openrailassociation.org
GitHubhttps://github.com/openrailassociation
LinkedInhttps://linkedin.com/company/openrailassociation/
OpenRail AssociationNov 21

We are happy to co-organize the Railways and Open Transport devroom at #FOSDEM 2026, and welcome your proposals.

Are you working with #OpenSource in this space? Do you have practical insights and lessons abour operations, traveller info, data analytics, or standards to share? Then submit it!

Key information:
📅 30 Nov: submission deadline
📌 31 Jan & 1 Feb 2026 in Brussels
ℹ️ Call for Participation with all details: https://github.com/OpenRailAssociation/FOSDEM/blob/main/2026-cfp.md

Looking forward to your proposals and the event!

Show threadOpenRail AssociationOct 8

🇫🇷🚆💡 Save the Date – OpenRail Day @Paris

Le 17 décembre 2025, OpenRail Association réunit sa communauté à Paris pour son premier événement public.
Une journée de démos projets, talks inspirants, ateliers & rencontres pour explorer comment l’open source transforme le ferroviaire.

ℹ️ Infos à venir 👉 https://openrailassociation.org

#OpenRail #OpenRailDay #Railway #Paris #OpenSource #InnovationFerroviaire

OpenRail AssociationOct 8

🚆💡 Save the Date – OpenRail Day @Paris

On 17 Dec 2025, OpenRail Association will gather the community in Paris for its first public event.
A full day of project demos, inspiring talks, workshops & networking to explore how open source is transforming #railways.

ℹ️ More info soon 👉 https://openrailassociation.org

#OpenRail #OpenRailDay #Railway #Paris #OpenSource #RailInnovation

OpenRail AssociationJul 17, 2025

🚄 We partned with SBB, DB & ÖBB to organize the #Hack4Rail hackathon in Bern. 170 railway and tech enthusiasts, also from SNCF, Infrabel & Flatland, worked in 21 teams to solve real challenges with #OpenSource solutions.

We established open collaboration from day one, ensuring innovative projects are sustained, and supported the whole event with FOSS infrastructure, e.g. @nextcloud and @matrix.

Check out the video for event highlights. We look forward to further collaboration!

#OpenRail

Show threadOpenRail AssociationJun 18, 2025

And by the way, our members will participate in the #Hack4Rail Hackathon next week, this time in Berne, Switzerland. We are happy to provide #OpenSource infrastructure for all 200 participants:

✅ #Nextcloud for hosting data, results and presentations
✅ #Matrix / #Element for instant messaging
✅ User management via #Authentik

We will be on-site to also support with open-sourcing the challenge results.

https://hack4rail.event.sbb.ch/en/

Hack4Rail

23. – 25. Juni 2025, Bern (Schweiz)

Show threadOpenRail AssociationJun 18, 2025

📄 Read the full report with a detailed presentation of the diverse projects, our members and the directors

👉 https://openrailassociation.org/documents/OpenRail-Association-Annual-Report-2024.pdf

OpenRail AssociationJun 18, 2025

🎉 The first year of real Open Source collaboration in the railway sector - let's look back!

OK, actually it's been more than a year already, but we've finished our first actual report which was exciting for us. We had high hopes when we started #OpenRail, but onboarding 5 projects and enlarging the membership to 8 organisations from 2 continents has been nothing but a blast 💥

The hardest part is yet to come: establishing collaboration by #OpenSource as the default in the #railway industry 💪

OpenRail AssociationMar 11, 2025

"Putting the Railway Industry on the Open Source Track" - this is what Cornelius Schumacher is talking right now about at #FOSSbackstage.

He explains why #OpenRail Association has been founded, shares experiences of the first year in operation with the crowd, and presents our projects and opportunities for collaboration.

https://25.foss-backstage.de/session/putting-the-railway-industry-on-the-open-source-track/

#fossback

Putting the Railway Industry on the Open Source Track

In 2024, the OpenRail Association launched with a mission to create a supportive framework for open-source projects in the railway sector. As a sector where software is not the product but the means to operate trains in a safe, efficient, and customer-friendly way, this provides specific challenges. Started as a joint effort of the German, French and Swiss railway companies and the international union of railways, the OpenRail Association is expanding and has incubated the first open source projects. This presentation will cover our journey, including how we tackled legal, organizational, and cultural challenges. We will provide insights into key open-source projects in areas such as railway infrastructure simulation, timetable creation, and freight train digital coupling. We will share the lessons learned from integrating open source into a sector primarily focused on trains, moving people, and goods, where software is merely a means to achieve these goals—unlike the software industry, where software itself is the core product and open source has long been well-established.

FOSS Backstage 2025
OpenRail AssociationFeb 2, 2025
Show threadMaren WestermannFeb 2, 2025

@openrail @fosdem
Watch the Railways and Open Transport track at #FOSDEM live here 👉🏼 https://live.fosdem.org/watch/k4601

For an overview of the talks happening in this devroom today, see here 👉🏼 https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/track/railways/

FOSDEM 2025 - Stream K.4.601

OpenRail AssociationNov 26, 2024

Last call for submissions for the #railway and open #transportation devroom at #FOSDEM 📢

We are looking forward to interesting proposals and a great lineup. You will find all required info here: https://github.com/OpenRailAssociation/FOSDEM/blob/main/2025-cfp.md

See you in Brussels!

FOSDEM/2025-cfp.md at main · OpenRailAssociation/FOSDEM

Resources and information about the Railways and Open Transport Devroom at FOSDEM - OpenRailAssociation/FOSDEM

GitHub