The entire team at The Signalling Company is immensely proud to announce that we have won the RailTech Europe Innovation Award! During the Railtech ’26 networking dinner, our sofware-defined ETCS system won the Innovation Award by unanimous decision of the jury, reinforced by the public vote.
A great recognition from the rail industry
We want to thank the Jury, UNIFE Director General Enno Wiebe, Karel van Gils, Senior Programme Manager at Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking, and RailTech.com Chief Editor Nikos Papatolios. We are also grateful to the audience, who also made our ETCS solution based on software their best innovation in the rail industry this year. Our entire team warmly thanks everyone who voted for us online in February. These votes helped us become a finalist and ultimately carried us to that special moment.
Jarlath Lally, accepting the Jury on behalf of our team. – image: ProMedia
“If we continue doing ERTMS like this, we will not make it,” said jury member Enno Wiebe during the award announcement. According to Enno, the industry needs to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
He went on to explain that rail networks across Europe are preparing for major changes, including the deployment of ERTMS with ETCS and the migration from GSM-R to future communication systems. having ETCS hardware onboard trains that can be updated throughout its lifetime can significantly reduce deployment costs, which are currently lagging even further behind on trains than on trackside systems. Over the past four years, the cost of onboard ETCS has doubled — a development that clearly goes in the wrong direction.
A prize following our ETCS certification in September 2025
“It’s actually quite emotional, the team put their life into this”, said Jarlath Lally, Head of Sales, Marketing and Product Management, when taking the stage to accept the award on behalf of our team.
Last year at Trako, The Signalling Company proudly announced the certification of our on-board ETCS safety system, as well as its adoption by Škoda Group for all its new single-deck train platform and retrofit projects. This award is a direct consequence of that unique achievement. We would like to thank Škoda Group for their support and our first-ever investor and client Lineas for their trust in our vision.
This recognition reflects the efforts of the wider team, this award belongs to them.
Jarlath Lally and Romain Hourtiguet celebrating the Award. – image: ProMedia