Transformation Through Research
The RailCampus OWL in Minden is part of a nationwide German network for future mobility challenges. It functions a center for research, development, and testing, as well as a campus for academic studies and professional training.
RailCampus OWL in Minden is a project site of the “German Center for Future Mobility” (DZM), funded by the Federal Ministry for Transport (BMV). A consortium of universities, Fraunhofer institutes, and companies is advancing technologies for automated rail-based mobility concepts at RailCampus OWL. Interdisciplinary project teams investigate and develop the required core technologies and demonstrate interfaces between rail-based mobility and other modes of transport. The objective is to help shape the mobility transition in a demand-oriented, user-friendly, climate- and resource-conscious, affordable, economically viable, intelligent, and resilient manner.
Five DZM Locations
RailCampus OWL is one of five DZM project locations with a focus on Smart Mobility.
The respective focus areas of the DZM locations are:
- Development and testing of smart sensor technologies combined with artificial intelligence for condition monitoring and optimization of road and Bridge infrastructure (Hamburg)
- Development and testing of automated and digitalized transport systems, as well as the establishment of a research infrastructure for innovative rail-based vehicles (Minden)
- Research on multimodal digital communication systems focused on rail operations, combined with the development of infrastructure focused test environments for integrated and connected mobility (Annaberg-Buchholz)
- Autonomous, on-demand shared mobility services that reduce private car dependency in rural areas and strengthen connections between rural regions, cities, and public transport (Karlsruhe)
- Autonomous Driving for Public Transport – enabling autonomous public transport at scale — turning cutting-edge Technology into real, integrated, and transferable systems for everyday operation (Munich, in development)
The networking of the five locations is supported through a variety of events such as conferences, seminars, and summer and winter schools. These activities serve both communication with politics, industry, and society as well as cooperation between the locations themselves. The aim is to leverage synergies and jointly address cross-system aspects of future mobility.
The Minden Location
The current research project within the DZM framework at the Minden project site — funded with €12.5 million over a duration of 36 months — is called enableATO: Enabling Automated Rail Transport as a Basis for Sustainable and Connected Mobility in Rural Areas.
Particularly in rural regions, new vehicle concepts, the reactivation of railway lines, and increasing interfaces between other transport modes and today’s rail system will play an important role. This creates and requires cooperative interfaces with other DZM locations. Within the project, rail-based mobility options are demonstrated and extensively investigated. A model mobility hub is planned in the area surrounding RailCampus OWL at Minden station.
Vehicle-Focused Research
RailCampus OWL in Minden has a clear focus on railway engineering, particularly on vehicle technologies. RailCampus OWL intends to strategically expand its networking activities with other research institutions and initiatives within the railway community.
Specific exchange formats are planned with the Smart Rail Connectivity Campus (SRCC) in Annaberg-Buchholz and the German Center for Rail Transport Research (DZSF). Cooperation with other research institutions is actively pursued through joint national and European research and development projects.
