From May 18 to 21, the MINOS team presented its latest research findings on predicting the opening and closing times of railroad crossings at the Transport Research Arena 2026 (TRA 2026) in Budapest. The goal of the project is to provide forecast data in a way that allows it to be integrated into applications for emergency responders, mobility platforms, and other digital services. The international conference was held under the theme “Re-Generation in Transport” and brought together stakeholders from academia, industry, startups, infrastructure operators, and politics. The focus was on European solutions and regulatory issues for all modes of transport—from road, rail, waterways, and aviation to cycling and walking.
Julian Stockemer’s poster addresses a specific problem encountered during fire department operations: Closed railroad crossings can cause stress and delay emergency response trips when real-time and predictive data for route planning are lacking. A mobile app with a minimalist design, tailored to fire department operations, was presented. Using MINOS forecasts, it displays the expected status of railroad crossings at the time the fire department is expected to arrive, thereby supporting their decision-making during operations.
Peeranut Noonurak presented a poster on the integration of MINOS forecasts into the national mobility platform Mobilithek. This allows forecast data on railroad crossing closures to be made available to third-party providers such as routing services or government agencies. The presentation demonstrated how high-frequency real-time data from up to 12,400 railroad crossings per cycle is converted into the European standard format DATEX II v3 and efficiently transmitted to Mobilithek. The system operates with a success rate of nearly 100 percent and stable resource consumption. These figures were validated over a 15-day observation period.
In her poster presentation,Sarah Schütz introduced the software architecture developed in the MINOS project and the technologies used to enable Germany-wide live forecasts for railroad crossings. A key challenge lies in processing high-frequency live data—such as train reports, short-term schedules, and schedule changes—and using it to calculate new forecasts based on the railway topology. The poster illustrated the software’s modular design and its core functions: data input, processing and conversion of incoming data, the forecasting algorithm, and the delivery of results via Mobilithek and the mobile app.
With these three posters, the MINOS team demonstrated how technical research, standardized data provision, and application-oriented design interlock. The presentations highlighted the contribution that digital forecast data can make to safer and more efficient transportation decisions—particularly where closed railroad crossings affect time-critical routes.
