đź“° XCROSS Mid-Term Event Highlights Progress Towards Smarter Railway Crossings

On 5 February 2026, the mid-term event of the Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking-funded XCROSS project took place at the UIC headquarters in Paris, bringing together around 40 participants both on-site and online.
XCROSS is a €2.04 million collaborative R&D project funded under the Horizon 2020 programme. Coordinated by TU Delft, the 30-month project brings together 10 partners from 7 European countries, including:
AIMEN (AsociaciĂłn de InvestigaciĂłn MetalĂşrgica del Noroeste)

  • EURNEX (European rail Research Network of Excellence)
  • Evopro Innovation
  • ProRail
  • RET (Rotterdam Electric Tram)
  • TU Delft (University of Delft)
  • TU Dresden ((University of Dresden)
  • TXT E-Tech
  • UIC (Union Internationale des Chemins de fer)
  • University of Leeds

Running until March 2027, XCROSS aims to develop an integrated suite of innovative technologies to transform the monitoring, inspection, and maintenance of railway crossing surface profiles.
The event was opened by Valeri Markine (Project Coordinator, TU Delft) and David Connolly (Technical Coordinator, University of Leeds), who provided a comprehensive overview of the project’s objectives, concept, and technical architecture, highlighting key innovations and challenges addressed during the first 18 months.

They were followed by SĂ©bastien Denis, Programme Manager at Europe’s Rail JU, who emphasised the strong synergies between XCROSS and the Europe’s Rail-funded Flagship Project #3 (IAM4RAIL). He noted that XCROSS results will be of great relevance and interest to IAM4RAIL and the broader Europe’s Rail innovation ecosystem and that the project is on the right track so far.

The core of the meeting focused on technical updates and live demonstrations presented by project partners, covering:

  • System requirements and architecture
  • Crossing Monitoring System
  • Augmented Reality (AR) tool for maintenance support
  • 3D-printed tools for on-site interventions
  • Socio-economic and environmental impact assessment
  • Integrated demonstrator
  • Operator feedback from RET and ProRail

For more information, please contact Celestino Sánchez, Leader of the Dissemination Work Package of the XCROSS project.