The Signalling Company has won the RailTech Innovation Award 2026, announced during the networking dinner at RailTech Europe on 4 March. The jury, combined with an audience vote of attendees, ultimately won the company’s innovative software-defined ETCS system the award.
The result was revealed during the dinner event, where the jury confirmed that the decision from their side had been unanimous. When the winner was announced, representatives from The Signalling Company took the stage to accept the award.
“It’s actually quite emotional,” said Jarlath Lally, Head of Sales, Marketing and Product Management at The Signalling Company. “I’ve seen the pain and the hurt and the passion of the superb team in Brussels, an incredible bunch of people, and this is for them.” He added that the recognition reflected the efforts of the wider team, saying they had “put their life into this”.
The jury, consisting of UNIFE director general Enno Wiebe, senior programme manager at Europe’s Rail joint undertaking Karel van Gils, and RailTech.com chief editor Nikos Papatolios, reviewed 24 entries from across the rail industry. First, 5 innovations were nominated, and 3 finalists were based on an audience vote by a survey, who presented their innovation at the event.
Software-defined signalling
During the pitches of the 3 finalists of the award, the Signalling Company introduced its technology as the first fully software-defined signalling platform in the industry, which has been officially certified in September 2025. The company said its approach focuses on delivering measurable operational benefits rather than technical novelty alone.
Based on its experience with early clients, the company highlights that its system can reduce maintenance costs for ETCS by a factor of ten, something the jury praised as well. “If we continue doing ERTMS like this, we will not make it,” said jury member Enno Wiebe during the award announcement. He added that the industry needs to “leave the beaten path”, improve efficiency and reduce costs.
Rail networks across Europe are preparing for major changes, including the deployment of ERTMS with ETCS and the migration from GSM-R to future communication systems. By having ETCS hardware on board of trains, which can be updated during it’s full lifetime, it reduces costs of deployment, which is lagging behind even more on trains than on the trackside. Costs for on-board ETCS have also doubled over 4 years, a development in the wrong direction.
Strong competition
The award attracted 24 entries covering a wide range of innovations across the railway sector. According to jury member Nikos Papatolios, chief editor of RailTech.com, the submissions included both digital technologies and hardware innovations.
Three finalists presented their ideas during the event: GeoNext, The Signalling Company, and voestalpine Track Soliutions. Each delivered a short pitch explaining their technology and its potential impact on the rail industry. GeoNext presented its AI system that analyses point clouds generated from measurements of railway infrastructure. The company said its framework can automatically identify around 40 different object types in the data, such as sleepers, cables or cabinets, reducing processing time from weeks or months to several days and allowing infrastructure designers to start planning earlier with more accurate data.
Voestalpine presented its lightweight, circular cable duct designed as an alternative to traditional concrete ducts used along railways. Sander Brinkhuis emphasised the innovation reduces workload of the railway workers installing it, and its part in reaching a circular railway. The company said the duct is stronger yet lighter than concrete, enabling installation that is more than 50% faster. It also reduces CO2 emissions by over 80% compared with concrete and can be recycled after its service life.
Despite 2 strong other contenders and pitches, The Signalling Company went home with award in the 2026 edition of the RailTech Innovation Awards.
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