Policy objective: PO 1 - A more competitive and smarter Europe by promoting innovative and smart economic transformation and regional ICT connectivity

Specific objective: SO 1 - Developing and enhancing research and innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies

Typology: Standard project

The T4RAIL IT-SI project is an innovative initiative to promote technological innovation and digitisation in the railway sector in the border area between Italy and Slovenia. Specifically, the project aims at removing existing barriers to rail interoperability lowering the requirement of B1 level (CEFR) language skills for train drivers in cross-border rail operations. This requirement is an obstacle to modal shift towards rail and represents an additional cost for railway undertakings interested in cross-border services.

To this end, the project objective is to experiment the use of a translator for railway jargon called “Translate4Rail” on the Italian-Slovenian border. This tool will support communication between train drivers and signallers by translating predefined messages (PDMs). In this sense, the project intends to contribute to better cross-border rail connections between Italy and Slovenia, increase employment opportunities and strengthen the competitiveness and sustainability of local businesses.

The project foresees the implementation of the following activities: 

• Adaptation of the T4RAIL digitisation system to the local context and communication systems of the railway organisations involved; 
• Training of on-board and ground staff; 
• Risk assessments and testing of the T4RAIL tool to evaluate all possible scenarios; 
• Carrying out field tests on the cross-border sections Villa Opicina – Sežana and Gorizia – Nova Gorica;
• Evaluation of the impact of the digitisation of railway procedures at the border on the territory of the Programme Area.

T4RAIL IT-SI supports the European Union’s objective of modal shift from road to rail through the cooperation of all stakeholders involved in the project. In this way, the project will not only contribute to improving communication in train management at borders, but also to enhancing accessibility for the local population, reducing the environmental impact of transport and strengthening cross-border territorial cohesion.