OpenRail at Hack4Rail 2025 - Empowering Railways Through Collaboration

16 July 2025

OpenRail Association is delighted to have partnered in Hack4Rail 2025, hosted by SBB, which took place from June 23 to 25 in Bern, Switzerland. The hackathon brought together around 170 creative minds from the railway industry, including members from DB, Flatland Association, Infrabel, ÖBB, SBB, and SNCF, working in 21 interdisciplinary teams to tackle some of the key challenges faced by rail operators and infrastructure managers today.

With the theme “Connected Railways for Intelligent Solutions”, Hack4Rail focused on multinational collaboration and Open Source solutions. OpenRail Association contributed by providing technical infrastructure, financial support, and a collaborative space on GitHub, helping to open-source the challenges from the very beginning.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, with many challenges naturally initiating as Open Source projects. This approach aligns with our vision to foster cooperation, openness, and shared growth in the digital transformation of railways. Participants were encouraged to explore and adapt innovative models, leveraging open data to drive progress across the industry.

The hackathon showcased impressive solutions to real-world rail challenges through collaborative efforts:

• Brave New Station: Enhanced passenger count analysis at stations using near-real-time data for improved safety and operational efficiency.
• LoCo2 LoCo: A smart CO₂ dashboard for real-time emissions tracking, promoting sustainable travel strategies.
• Trip HackerZ: Personalized travel solutions using natural language processing to tailor travel experiences to individual needs.
• Parametric Travelers: A tool that recommends travel options based on personalized criteria, encouraging exploration of lesser-known connections.

These winning projects exemplify the transformative potential of Open Source collaboration, which OpenRail Association is committed to nurturing. By collaborating and sharing insights, the railway industry can accelerate innovation and achieve more efficient and interoperable solutions.

For an engaging recap of Hack4Rail 2025, we invite you to watch the event video:

A huge thank-you to SBB for serving as the main organizer of the event and their permission to use and share the images and videos.

We look forward to continuing this journey and exploring new opportunities to connect and innovate with our members and partners across the rail sector.