World Congress on Railway Research

Italferr at the forefront of digital innovation at WCRR 2025

For the first time in history, the World Congress on Railway Research (WCRR 2025) and the International Heavy Haul Association Conference (IHHA 2025) were held jointly at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, in an event organised by MxV Rail.

This represents a turning point for the international railway sector, bringing together experts, institutions and operators from around the world in a single platform for discussion and collaboration. The goal, which was fully achieved, was to promote safer and more reliable railway networks, encourage the spread of innovative technologies, improve operational efficiency and support the transition to more sustainable mobility.

The WCRR 2025 programme offered a great deal of high-quality content, with over 760 peer-reviewed technical papers illustrating the latest developments in railway research, while more than 340 expert speakers presented concrete applications and cutting-edge technological innovations.

Italferr, with FS Group, was among the protagonists of this important event.

Two significant contributions were selected for the “Infrastructure BIM Management & Project Control Department”, namely, “Enhancing Process Efficiency and Project Sustainability with Information Management”, presented by Alessandro Mambrin, and “Technology Systems in Railway Infrastructure”, presented by Caterina Varriale.

Both papers, to which colleagues Francesco Dalessandri, Daniel Puglisi and Lorenzo Sorgi have significantly contributed, greatly influenced the international discussion on digital innovation, process efficiency and sustainability in railway infrastructure.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PRESENTED PAPERS

*Enhancing Process Efficiency and Project Sustainability with Information Management* (Alessandro Mambrin)
The paper describes how Italferr has adopted an integrated digital approach to improve efficiency, quality and sustainability in infrastructure design. At the heart of this approach is project data management, by collecting, structuring and sharing the data to ensure traceability, multidisciplinary collaboration and compliance with standards. The data flow starts with high-precision surveys (point clouds) from which BIM models are created and immediately integrated with the GIS data relating to the constraints and characteristics of the local areas. All these elements then flow into the Digital Twin platform, which allows the project to be visualised, analysed and simulated in real time, to support the technical, environmental and economic decisions. Even in the early stages, the method allows for quick comparison of design alternatives via interactive dashboards, linking models, quantities and costs for transparent, data-driven evaluation. One of the objectives of this approach is also to facilitate communication with the local authorities and communities, to make the project more comprehensible to the public and encourage public discussion. In conclusion, the integration of ACDat, BIM, GIS and Digital Twin enables Italferr to achieve faster, more coordinated and sustainable processes, resulting in shorter design times, savings in subsequent phases and improved quality information management.

Enhancing Process Efficiency and Project Sustainability with Information Management

(Alessandro Mambrin)

The paper describes how Italferr has adopted an integrated digital approach to improve efficiency, quality and sustainability in infrastructure design. At the heart of this approach is project data management, by collecting, structuring and sharing the data to ensure traceability, multidisciplinary collaboration and compliance with standards.

The data flow starts with high-precision surveys (point clouds) from which BIM models are created and immediately integrated with the GIS data relating to the constraints and characteristics of the local areas. All these elements then flow into the Digital Twin platform, which allows the project to be visualised, analysed and simulated in real time, to support the technical, environmental and economic decisions.

Even in the early stages, the method allows for quick comparison of design alternatives via interactive dashboards, linking models, quantities and costs for transparent, data-driven evaluation. One of the objectives of this approach is also to facilitate communication with the local authorities and communities, to make the project more comprehensible to the public and encourage public discussion.

In conclusion, the integration of ACDat, BIM, GIS and Digital Twin enables Italferr to achieve faster, more coordinated and sustainable processes, resulting in shorter design times, savings in subsequent phases and improved quality information management.

*Technology systems in rail way infrastructure* (Caterina Varriale)
This research introduces an innovative approach because, for the first time, railway technologies like signalling, telecommunications, electric traction, lighting and power systems can be integrated into a BIM model. The aim is to create interoperable federated models that allow the early identification of conflicts and variations, thus improving the accuracy and efficiency of project lifecycle management. Railway technology specialists are involved from the early stages, through multi-level checks and clash detection on federated models. This makes it possible to bring forward the production of specialised models and digitally resolve interferences that, in traditional workflows, would only emerge on the construction site, causing delays, extra costs and modifications during construction. The proposed integration addresses the complexity of modelling linear systems like signalling, catenary, power supply and TLC networks, ensuring design consistency and minimising the risk of error.

Technology systems in rail way infrastructure

(Caterina Varriale)

This research introduces an innovative approach because, for the first time, railway technologies like signalling, telecommunications, electric traction, lighting and power systems can be integrated into a BIM model.

The aim is to create interoperable federated models that allow the early identification of conflicts and variations, thus improving the accuracy and efficiency of project lifecycle management.

Railway technology specialists are involved from the early stages, through multi-level checks and clash detection on federated models.

This makes it possible to bring forward the production of specialised models and digitally resolve interferences that, in traditional workflows, would only emerge on the construction site, causing delays, extra costs and modifications during construction.

The proposed integration addresses the complexity of modelling linear systems like signalling, catenary, power supply and TLC networks, ensuring design consistency and minimising the risk of error.