Advancing Smart Railway Infrastructure Monitoring

The PRISMA team participated in InnoTrans 2026, one of the world’s leading international trade fairs for transport technology, held in Berlin from 22 to 25 September. Hosted at the GCF stand, the project showcased its innovative approach to railway infrastructure monitoring and predictive maintenance.

Bringing together key players from the global railway and mobility sectors, InnoTrans 2026 provided an important opportunity for the PRISMA team to present its research and technological solutions in an international industrial setting, with a particular focus on digitalization, infrastructure innovation and next-generation transport technologies.

Developed within the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology at Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with GCF, PRISMA aims to advance railway infrastructure monitoring through fiber-optic sensing, photonic technologies and advanced data-processing methods. By enabling continuous monitoring of critical railway assets, the project seeks to support the transition from traditional scheduled maintenance toward predictive and condition-based maintenance strategies.

Throughout the exhibition, the PRISMA team had the opportunity to engage with railway operators, infrastructure managers, technology providers and researchers, exchanging perspectives on current challenges in infrastructure monitoring and exploring potential applications of innovative sensing and diagnostic technologies.

Participation in InnoTrans 2026 marked an important opportunity to strengthen connections between research and industry, foster new collaborations and contribute to the development of safer, more reliable and more efficient railway infrastructure through continuous monitoring and predictive diagnostics.