07 Sept 2026

Spain: A Shared Data Space for the Railway Ecosystem

Case Study 3 minute read

Challenge

The railway sector is generating operational, maintenance and infrastructure data, yet this information often remains fragmented and difficult to share across organizations.

This limits the ability to optimize traffic, improve maintenance efficiency, and accelerate infrastructure design.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation and Public Administration need a secure, sovereign and interoperable data environment that enables collaboration while protecting sensitive information and ensuring full control over data usage.

Solution

Hitachi Rail Spain carried out the project “Federated Data Spaces – Rail Data Omniverse” together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Public Administration, with the aim to establish a shared data space designed specifically for the railway ecosystem.

The initiative provides a data connector and governance model enabling secure and sovereign data exchange across organizations.
A set of pilot use cases demonstrates the value of data-driven services:

Smart maintenance and AI monitoring for signaling systems analysis.
Railway traffic optimization, analyzing the train movement online and offline to help scheduling and reestablishing it after a service stop.
Advanced calculations for design and installation of field signaling railway systems using real orographic data and rail dossiers.

Impact

Our Rail Data space connector will bring:

Increased network capacity in railway infrastructure, ensuring punctuality and decreasing traction energy usage.
A disruptive leap in maintenance and railway design leveraging AI for both conventional and high-speed lines.
Improved resilience, reducing the impact of breakdowns, climate events, and unexpected disruptions. Faster, more objective decision‑making, supported by secure and real time data.
Creation of training and working scenarios based on both real and synthetic data to optimize decision-making and workforce skills.