photo: InnoTrans on LinkedIn/Railway Influencer Festival at InnoTrans 2026, Berlin, Germany
InnoTrans 2026 ended with awards for both the people telling rail’s story online and the teams trying to solve its technical problems.
The second Railway Influencer Festival named winners in four categories, while the first international AI on Track hackathon produced ideas ranging from smarter air conditioning to AI-assisted timetable recovery.
The final day of InnoTrans 2026 shifted some of the attention away from rolling stock and exhibition halls and onto the people creating new ideas around rail. Two events took place at Messe Berlin: the second Railway Influencer Festival, which recognised mobility content creators and companies, and the first international AI on Track hackathon, where teams spent three days working on real problems from the transport sector.
"The rail industry needs innovation – and people who can communicate these innovations clearly and with enthusiasm to the wider public," said InnoTrans Director Kerstin Schulz.
Railway Influencer Festival Doubles in Size
According to InnoTrans, around twice as many content creators took part in the Railway Influencer Festival this year, joined by roughly 30 companies for the awards ceremony at the Marshallhaus cinema. An independent jury made up of representatives from industry associations selected winners in four categories:
- Best InnoTrans Video: Bahnwelten
- Best Brand Video: Windhoff
- Best Mobility Channel: Via Trolebus
- Best Urban Mobility Video: Urban Mobility Explained
The awards recognise creators and companies that can make railway and public transport topics accessible to audiences beyond the industry itself. That includes everything from reporting directly from InnoTrans to brand storytelling and explaining urban mobility in a format that works on social media.
First ‘AI on Track’ Hackathon Comes to InnoTrans
While the influencer festival focused on communication, another group at InnoTrans spent three days building and testing technical solutions. The first international AI on Track hackathon gathered developers, start-ups and rail industry specialists in interdisciplinary teams.
Alstom, Wabtec and Siemens Mobility supported the event that focused on practical uses of artificial intelligence and data across railway operations, infrastructure and the passenger experience. Rather than discussing AI in general terms, the teams were given concrete mobility challenges and a short period of time to develop working concepts.
From Smarter Air Conditioning to Faster Timetable Recovery
Among the winning ideas was ATMOS, a concept for smarter control of onboard air conditioning. Another, NextMove, used AI to optimise timetables and help operators react more quickly when incidents disrupt normal service. The third concept, Trackline, explored the use of an intelligent voice assistant for ticket booking.
The projects covered very different parts of the railway, but all followed the same basic idea: using AI to simplify decisions, respond more quickly and make transport systems easier to operate or use.
"The launch of ‘AI on Track’ has demonstrated the potential that arises when we bring technology experts and the rail industry together directly," Schulz said.
Read more
RAILTARGET follows a UIC webinar on fuel filtration for internal combustion engines, covering fuel quality, new filtration technologies, preventive…