Innovation for Rail

Founded in 2023 by industry experts, the company is advancing rail transport with targeted AI-supported systems. Its goal is to make rail operations more reliable, increase service frequency, and reduce operating costs. At the same time, the solution addresses one of the sector’s most pressing challenges: the growing shortage of train drivers. In doing so, it also supports the transport policy goal of shifting traffic from road to rail.

“The shortage of drivers in the transport sector is a serious issue that affects the stability and reliability of both local and long-distance public transport,” the jury stated in its reasoning. In addition to traditional recruitment measures, transport operators are increasingly required to advance autonomous technologies and address structural bottlenecks through technological solutions. The underlying technologies have been in place for some time. With the Future Mobility Award 2026, the jury is now honoring a company that not only formulates visions for the mobility of tomorrow, but is already putting them into practice today together with international partners.

Solution impresses the jury

According to the jury, Futurail won them over with a solution “that will not only receive certification for use in depots or port areas, but will also, in the future, become part of everyday rail operations on regular railway lines.” This means the solution could become a European response to many autonomous mobility developments, particularly in Asia. In principle, the technology could also be deployed in complex networks such as Karlsruhe, where tram, light rail, and railway services intersect, and could ultimately be transferred to many rail corridors across Europe. The fact that Futurailis a cross-border company also highlights the growing importance of European cooperation in key industries such as mobility.

The Future Mobility Award was once again presented during IT-TRANS at Messe Karlsruhe, one of the leading international meeting points for the digital transformation of public transport. Key topics there include artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, digital ticketing, and data standards. Under the patronage of the Ministry of Transport of Baden-Württemberg, the award recognizes startups shaping the mobility of tomorrow with innovative and sustainable solutions. “Karlsruhe stands for future and innovation,” said Winfried Hermann, Minister of Transport for Baden-Württemberg, in his welcoming remarks. “The industry needs these new ideas.”

Giving innovation a visible platform

The aim of the international award, first presented in 2020, is to provide young companies with a visible stage in Karlsruhe, the city of mobility, for pioneering developments in the transport sector, emphasized Karlsruhe’s Mayor Dr. Frank Mentrup. Karlsruhe, he noted, has been a city of new ideas for around 150 years. The award, he said together with Elke Zimmer, State Secretary in the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Transport, sends a strong signal from IT-TRANS for the next stage of mobility.

The award, endowed with €5,000, is presented by the Economic Development Agency of the City of Karlsruhe, aen – automotive. engineering. network e.V., Messe Karlsruhe, and NahverkehrsPraxis / Fachverlag Dr. H. Arnold GmbH. The company init supports the award as sponsor, while KAMO: Karlsruhe Mobility Competence Center acts as partner.

European mobility sector showcases innovative diversity

The many applications submitted in 2026 once again demonstrate the high level of innovation within the European mobility ecosystem. Startups from across Europe submitted solutions aimed at making public transport more efficient, digital, and resilient. Seven companies reached the final round.

In addition to the winner Futurail, and the Future Mobility Award – Special Recognition for Digital Sovereignty, awarded for the first time to Digitransit from Finland, an open-source platform for regionally adaptable multimodal journey planning based on open data, already in use in places including Pforzheim-Enzkreis, Ludwigsburg, Aachen, and Herrenberg, the following companies also reached the final round:

• Autonomous Systems, a startup founded in Poland in 2018, which enables buses to navigate autonomously in defined environments using a combination of lidar, camera, radar, and positioning sensors.

• Electric Oasis from Alsace, founded in 2023, with modular EV charging solutions that can be installed within days without extensive civil engineering work and scaled flexibly.

• Novality, a tech startup from Seville offering smart urban mobility and infrastructure solutions, particularly secure parking stations for bicycles and e-scooters.

• Stadt.Land.Netz SLN GmbH from Dresden, with planning and management solutions for transport operators, public administrations, and educational institutions, especially in rural areas and school transport.

• Zaubar UG, a Berlin-based technology company specializing in augmented reality and AI-powered immersive applications for tourism, culture, and events.

A strong signal from Karlsruhe

The Future Mobility Award puts these mobility pioneers in the spotlight and strengthens young companies as key drivers of innovation in the industry. The award-winning approaches show how technological innovation, operational feasibility, and European collaboration are increasingly coming together, a crucial building block for future-proof mobility systems.

More information about the award and the winners can be found at www.future-mobility-award.de.

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