SNCF and CNES innovate with new ‘Rail and Space’ technology ecosystem

In areas like traffic management, onboard Internet connectivity or geolocation, the space and rail sectors share much common ground. On the back of recent actions engaged by its Directorate of Innovation, Applications and Science, CNES has set up with SNCF a joint Rail and Space Coordination Committee to identify avenues for cooperation and put their relationship on a formal footing. This committee will be cochaired by SNCF’s Chairman and CNES’s President and will meet once a year.

At the committee’s first meeting in February this year, several avenues were identified:

• modernization of the control-and-command system, which could benefit from the advantages afforded by Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system;
• on-train fast-broadband connectivity delivered by new Ka-band satellites;
• rail network safety enhanced by optical satellite imagery;
• use of radar imagery for surveillance of tracks and their immediate vicinity.

Technical trials in some of these areas are already underway. The two partners are also working together in the field of the data economy, seeking to pool their expertise in processing and adding value to the wealth of data that they generate.

To organize discussions on these topics, working groups will be formed comprising specialists from SNCF and CNES. The Coordination Committee will subsequently review the groups’ progress and areas for cooperation identified.