Smarter trains, powered by data: How Knorr-Bremse takes rail mobility to a new level with Railnova
Knorr-Bremse is driving the transformation of rail transport with Railnova’s intelligent telematics
Connectivity solutions improve maintenance planning, availability, and fleet performance
Core product Railster is already in use on approximately 3,000 locomotives and multiple-unit trains across Europe
Railnova uses artificial intelligence in semi-automated decision-making to deliver greater customer value
Clear growth path and attractive EBIT margin underscore business potential
When trains run every minute and any delay has consequences, reliable information is the key to ensuring smooth operations on the tracks. Digital technologies from Knorr-Bremse subsidiary Railnova provide rail operators with precisely this knowledge – making maintenance, fleet planning, and daily operations more proactive and efficient.
Dr. Nicolas Lange, Member of the Executive Board of Knorr-Bremse AG and globally responsible for the Rail Division: “Digital rail transport is no longer a vision for us, but a reality. We are making targeted investments in our capabilities to further expand data-driven services, tap into new customer groups, and increase our impact in this dynamically growing market. Railnova combines Knorr-Bremse’s systems expertise with deep digital know-how. This allows us to create scalable solutions that make rail operations faster, more efficient, and more reliable.”
Improving fleet performance and availability
Based in Brussels, Railnova brings more than a decade of experience in the digitalization of rail operations. With an average annual growth rate of around 13% over the past five years and an attractive EBIT margin, the company demonstrates its sustained business success.
The solutions transform vehicle data into concrete recommendations for action and enable operators and workshops to rethink maintenance processes, detect failures early, and keep fleets reliably in service. This creates added value, especially in today’s rail operations, where availability is not a goal but a prerequisite: less downtime, greater planning reliability – and intelligent rail transport elevated to a new level.
For example, the Railster product family connects rail vehicles and makes their condition visible in real time thanks to intelligent sensor technology. Across Europe, these solutions are already in use on approximately 3,000 locomotives and multiple-unit trains. Building on this, the Railgenius analytics platform translates data into intelligent recommendations using more than 2,000 algorithms – for condition-based maintenance as well as for predictive fleet planning. Railfleet brings this intelligence into day-to-day operations: With over 9,000 users today, the application manages maintenance and fleet processes and digitally tracks vehicles on their journey – from the tracks to the service depot.
AI agents already in use
AI agents are already playing a central role in day-to-day operations in applications such as Railfleet: They read fault reports, automatically classify them, and create structure where manual work was previously required. In the future, the agents will also derive concrete recommendations for maintenance planning from this information. This provides fleet managers with an even more precise overview of the condition of their vehicles in the shortest possible time. This allows measures to be prioritized effectively and decisions to be made more quickly.
Overall, Knorr-Bremse is implementing its digital strategy step by step. Among other initiatives, by establishing a cross-divisional AI Center in Chennai, India and expanding AI and cloud technologies with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Knorr-Bremse is creating a strong foundation to boost innovation, efficiency, productivity, and customer value across the entire company.