Third IDX4rail Expert Workshop Day in Leipzig: Presentation of IDX4rail 1.0 Beta 2

On November 12^th, 2025, the IDX4rail consortium met with experts in the field of infrastructure data from various railway, tramway, and light rail operators. The 3^rd IDX4rail Expert Workshop Day took place in a hybrid format and was hosted by the Leipzig public transport services LVB (Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe).

The event focused on insights into the modelling of IDX4rail 1.0 Beta 2 (which equates to the subschemas IS and CO of railML 3.4 Beta 2), gave a roadmap of the project for 2026, and featured exciting guest lectures by industry partners.

IDX4rail explained

IDX4rail is a railML partner project which aims to consolidate data for railway and tramway infrastructure by harmonising the industry standards railML^® and IDM^VU, a German standard for infrastructure data management for tramway and light rail. Like railML, IDX4rail modelling is use case based, ensuring seamless implementation in practice.

Modelling of IDX4rail 1.0 Beta 2

When developing the IDX4rail 1.0 Beta 2 version, community feedback was carefully taken into consideration. For example, after version Beta 1 had been presented at the previous Expert Workshop Day in Cologne, community feedback on Track Bed was collected and discussed in two workshops.

The results of the first workshop were initially implemented in version Alpha 4 as a preview of version Beta 2. During the second workshop, version Alpha 4 was reviewed and discussed by the railway undertakings. The resulting Beta 2 was presented at the 3^rd IDX4rail Expert Workshop Day and is available for download on the railML website as version 3.4 Beta 2. As mentioned beforehand, IDX4rail 1.0 Beta 2 is equivalent to the railML subschemas Infrastructure and Common of railML 3.4 Beta 2. So, if the schema is only used for import / export of infrastructure data, the user experience of railML 3.4 Beta 2 and IDX4rail 1.0 Beta 2 will be the same.

Beta 2 models the use cases RailTopoModel, General Data, Track Geometry and Alignment, Infrastructure Asset Status Representation, and Network Statement.

Topics of Consortium and Partner Lectures

The current state of the IDX4rail 1.0 modelling was presented by Christian Rahmig from DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt / German Aerospace Center), focussing mainly on unambiguous positioning of infrastructure elements, modelling of Track Geometry, additions to Level Crossing, and Track Bed. It was also highlighted that large amounts of data (e.g. raw data from measurement runs) are deliberately not described in the IDX4rail standard to guarantee the model’s long-term expandability.

Vasco Paul Kolmorgen from railML.org illustrated the workflow behind the modelling of railML® use cases, which will also be applied to future IDX4rail updates. The workflow of use case driven railML development has been described in detail in a railML news.

The Expert Workshop Day’s agenda further featured lectures from:

1. Conrad Jentzsch, LVB (Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe / Leipzig public transport services), speaking on intelligent maintenance at LVB
2. Maximilian Selch, DZSF (Deutsches Zentrum für Schienenverkehrsforschung / German Centre for Rail Traffic Research), speaking on data-driven, predictive maintenance
3. Dr. Michael Roth, DLR, speaking on project OnboardEU which collects and analyses data for detecting track defects
4. Steffen Scharun, OBERMEYER, speaking on digital data processing in BIM (Building Information Modeling) projects
5. Daniel Kanis, DB Bahnbau Gruppe, speaking on the 360° multi-sensor platform – a system for rail vehicles for surveying and inventory recording as a basis for BIM projects

IDX4rail Roadmap 2026

By spring 2026, the two use cases Maintenance Planning for Infrastructure and Schematic Track Plan will have been modelled and made available to the community for feedback in version Beta 3. By summer 2026, modelling for the release of IDX4rail 1.0 will be finalised. The use case Topology Update will not be implemented as part of IDX4rail 1.0, as it is only relevant for a follow-up project to update the standard.

By the end of the project, a tool for converting data records from IDM^VU to IDX4rail will be provided. For validation of IDX4rail files, the railML validator software railVIVID will be configured accordingly – this is justified by the proximity of the IDX4rail data model to railML 3.4.

At the same time, the VDV will submit the survey procedure for updating VDV Document 456 to the relevant committee. This will amplify IDX4rail’s significance withing the industry appropriately. Preparations for this will begin in 2025, with the updated VDV Document expected to be published in spring 2027.

Upcoming Events

The 4^th IDX4rail Expert Workshop Day will be held on 16^th April 2026, Munich. Event details can be found on the IDX4rail website.

The project culminates with the 5^th IDX4rail Expert Workshop Day in November 2026 in Berlin, marking the completion of the project. railML.org will continue with maintenance of the project IDX4rail after its conclusion, if there is demand from the community to do so.

Call for Participation

As mentioned, the latest Beta version for IDX4rail 1.0, respectively railML 3.4 has been released since November and is available for download on the railML schema download page. If you are interested in joining the review process for Beta 2, please reach out to orga@governance.railml.org. Your input is greatly appreciated.