Infrabel joins the Rail Open Lab: a new breath of innovation for European railways
The Rail Open Lab landed in Brussels on 27 and 28 March for its third plenary session of the year, warmly welcomed by Infrabel, the Belgian railway network manager. This sequence marked an important step: the official entry of Infrabel into the Rail Open Lab community, thus strengthening the European dimension of the collaborative innovation laboratory.
Created in 2020, the Rail Open Lab has established itself as a catalyst for technological transformation for the railway sector. With the arrival of Infrabel, it is a century-old expertise, recognized know-how in infrastructure and a strong desire to open its processes to innovation that join the collective.
A strong moment around open innovation
On 27 March, Infrabel organised an event dedicated to Open Innovation. It brought together more than 230 participants including Belgian industrialists, members of the Rail Open Lab and Infrabel employees. After the speech of CEO, Benoît Gilson, a debate on Open Innovation brought together personalities involved in the transformation of the sector: Benoît GILSON (CEO Infrabel), Christel EVRARD (Head of Innovation Infrabel), Pierre DABURON (President of Rail Open Lab), Frédéric BERNAUDIN(Secretary General of the Rail Open Lab), Maryse COLSON (Head of People Office at Euranova), Philippe PAILLET (DG TSO Caténaires), Jean JOUET (CTO &Innovation by John Cockerill), Anne MILOT (CTO RATP Infrastructures) and Bart STEUKERS (CEO of the Belgian Federation of Technological Companies). Together, they exchanged views on the challenges of industrialization, cross-fertilization between sectors, and the need for a collaborative dynamic to bring about sustainable solutions.
Concrete innovations were also highlighted:
- Jarvis Track Video System, the artificial intelligence developed by Infrabel for predictive maintenance,
- the recycling of manganese railway equipment cores (RATP Group and Vossloh),
- the Mobile Beacon Stop system to secure construction sites under ETCS,
- or even the detection of spills by optical fiber (SNCF Réseau and Sercel).
An immersion in the heart of Belgian know-how
The highlight of this sequence was a visit to the site of Bascoup (Infrabel), flagship of the production of switches and crossings in Belgium. Recently modernized, the workshop has increased to an impressive rate of 300 complete devices per year, to which are added 400 half-devices and 320 cores, all produced by 240 committed and versatile agents. Innovation is omnipresent, whether it’s new machines or logistical reorganizations to gain efficiency.
A reinforced collective dynamic
A big thank you to Benoît Gilson, Christel Evrard, Joêl Daumerie (Bascoup Production Manager) and all the Infrabel teams for their welcome and involvement in this collective dynamic.
