During the Wayside Digitalisation Forum 2025 held in Vienna, we used the opportunity to interview Mr. Christian Pucher, CMO of Frauscher Sensortechnik GmbH, about the latest products and developments from the company’s reach portfolio.

INTEGRATION & INTEROPERABILITY CHALLENGES

The WDF emphasizes standardization initiatives such as EULYNX for interfaces between signalling systems. How does Frauscher approach the technical and organizational challenges to integrating wayside objects into heterogeneous signalling environments, especially where legacy systems or proprietary protocols remain in use?

Frauscher integrates wayside objects into heterogeneous signalling environments by a strong commitment to international standards like EULYNX, which provide standardized interfaces – specifically SCI (communication), SSI (security), SDI (diagnostics), and SMI (maintenance). Our solutions for Train Detection and Point Control are designed to work across different generations of equipment and manufacturers, allowing smooth retrofits even with legacy systems. Frauscher addresses integration at multiple retrofit layers to ensure flexibility and future‑readiness. At the field element level, Frauscher enables smooth integration of existing assets, such as point machines, with new interlocking systems through the FAdP Point. Even field elements with long remaining lifetimes can easily connect to modern digital signaling via this intelligent controller. At the interlocking level, the FAdP Point allows new field elements to interface seamlessly with existing interlocking systems. This flexibility enables operators to upgrade field equipment first while maintaining full compatibility with current infrastructure. When migrating later to digital interlockings, the same EULYNX‑compliant interfaces ensure a smooth transition without reinvestment in field devices, providing a clear path toward a fully digital, future‑proof signalling environment. By supporting both open and proprietary protocol variants, Frauscher ensures backward compatibility across system generations. For both resignalling and greenfield projects, modular architectures enable tailored deployment – whether for incremental retrofits or complete new builds – safeguarding investments while providing scalability for future needs.

DATA ACQUISITION, MONITORING & PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE

This event highlights the importance of data acquisition, monitoring, and predictive maintenance in digital signalling. What are, in your opinion, the main obstacles (technical, economic, or regulatory) that you currently see to rolling out predictive maintenance solutions in the railway field, and how is Frauscher addressing them?

The rollout of predictive maintenance in the railway sector faces multiple layers of challenges – technical, regulatory, and cultural. The first and most fundamental requirement is having digital-ready products capable of measuring, collecting, and providing high-quality data on signalling equipment and assets. Without this foundation, true predictive analytics cannot begin. The next major challenge is ensuring reliable and secure data transmission from the field to central systems or the cloud; this demands robust products like object controllers, resilient network infrastructure, and strong cybersecurity frameworks.

Beyond technology, there remains a significant mindset shift to achieve. Many infrastructure operators are still reluctant – or legally restricted – to share monitoring data, which limits collaboration and cross-system learning that predictive maintenance depends on. Frauscher addresses these barriers by designing its systems to generate actionable insights directly from the source. Solutions like Frauscher Insights and the Point Control System enable condition monitoring and diagnostics from day one, providing secure, real-time access to critical data while respecting safety and data sovereignty. This approach reduces unplanned downtime, optimizes maintenance operations, and lays the groundwork for broader, data-driven innovation in the railway sector. At the same time, making predictive analytics efficient requires data centre or cloud‑based platforms, given the enormous volumes of data and the computational resources needed to process them in real time. However, procurement processes in the railway industry are still largely geared toward capital expenditure (CAPEX) rather than operational expenditure (OPEX) models such as Software‑as‑a‑Service (SaaS). This slows the adoption of subscription‑based or cloud‑enabled maintenance solutions, even when they are technically mature and economically beneficial.

CYBERSECURITY & RESILIENCE

As more intelligence is pushed into wayside objects, they also become more vulnerable to attacks or failures. How is Frauscher ensuring that its wayside solutions are resilient against cyber-threats, and how do you balance that with performance, latency, and cost constraints?

Frauscher ensures resilience against cyber threats with a multi-layered approach: the use of standardized, secure interfaces, compartmentalized network design e.g. data diode for network separation (OT/IT), category 3 compliance according to CENELEC standard, and proper cybersecurity processes throughout the entire company. These strategies balance security and operational performance by leveraging streamlined configuration, network separation, and dedicated diagnostic and maintenance data channels. Of course, all subsystems and components have to be up to date regarding cybersecurity. Therefore, Maintenance and Data Management Servers (MDM) are necessary in order to distribute updates automatically.

MIGRATION STRATEGIES & TECHNOLOGY EVOLUTION

The WDF’s focus includes controlling field objects and future-proof strategies. In practice, how do you plan for migration or phased upgrades of wayside systems (e.g. from conventional to digital) without disrupting operations? What is Frauscher’s vision for “future-proof” hardware or architectures?

Frauscher enables a smooth migration from conventional to digital signalling through flexible and future‑oriented solutions that protect existing investments and minimize operational disruptions. Migration does not require immediate, large‑scale hardware replacements. Instead, digital adapters and gateways allow existing relay or electronic interlockings to remain in use, while new field elements such as the FAdP Point connect seamlessly to them. This approach safeguards the life cycle of both interlockings and field assets, such as point machines, while creating the foundation for future digital upgrades.

Each step in the migration process reduces wiring, testing, and maintenance efforts while maintaining full functionality of the existing infrastructure. As a result, Frauscher’s approach builds a bridge to a fully EULYNX‑compliant environment, laying the groundwork for a safe, efficient, and future‑proof signalling ecosystem.

MARKET ADOPTION & INCENTIVES

The WDF aims to bring together operators, system suppliers, integrators, and consultants to drive innovation. From your perspective, what are the key drivers and barriers (e.g., regulatory, financial, organizational) currently affecting the uptake of advanced wayside digitalization solutions across different regions (Europe, Asia, etc.), and how does Frauscher aim to overcome them?

Railway market adoption and incentives differ significantly across regions, as infrastructure conditions, regulatory environments, and digital maturity vary widely. However, operators around the world share three main strategic goals: increasing line capacity, improving safety, and reducing life‑cycle costs.
In Europe, digital interlocking systems (DSTW) and IP‑based communications with decentralized intelligent object controllers represent the core direction of transformation. This requires a long-term and predictable funding framework to ensure sustained investment confidence and continuity over multi-year programs. Equally important is the adaptability of operators to embrace standardization and modular system integration while moving away from fully turnkey tenders.
Standardized, open interfaces are crucial to breaking vendor lock‑in and allowing interoperability between various generations of signalling systems. This architectural openness also enables separate life cycles for hardware and software components, lowering upgrade costs and making modernization of existing conventional signalling both more practical and more future‑proof.
Frauscher’s approach aligns with these developments through modular hardware and software that integrate seamlessly into such IP‑based, standardized environments. By supporting EULYNX‑compliant interfaces, Frauscher helps operators modernize legacy systems gradually, ensuring long‑term investment protection and alignment with regional digitalization strategies in Europe and beyond.
We want to thank Mr. Pucher for this really insightful overview! We hope to see you again in Vienna in 2027!