Spanish national railway operator Renfe has announced the selection of six technology companies to spearhead the development of cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions aimed at revolutionizing railway transport. This announcement follows a highly competitive process that attracted 164 submissions from leading technology firms.
The chosen companies will receive €20,000 in funding each, along with dedicated expert mentoring, to develop proofs of concept. The ultimate goal is to seamlessly integrate these successful AI solutions into Renfe’s extensive operations. This initiative is a cornerstone of Renfe’s AI Lab Project Competition, designed to significantly enhance the efficiency, sustainability, and overall passenger experience across Spain’s national railway network.
At a recent event in Madrid on July 1, Renfe executives and technology leaders reaffirmed their strong commitment to open innovation as a pivotal driver of the company’s ongoing digital transformation.
The rigorous selection process evaluated 164 proposals, culminating in a shortlist of 18 finalists before the final six winners were chosen across key strategic areas:
- For the Renfe Employee Digital Assistant project, Aunoa emerged as the winner for its proposal on using AI agents to assist Renfe employees.
- In the Real-Time Information System category, Plain Concepts secured the win with its “Renfe Real-Time Intelligence Hub.”
- For AI in workshops, Lucentia Lab’s “Multimodal Intelligent Assistant for Visual Detection and Predictive Diagnosis in Railway Workshops” was selected.
- For Operations Management Center (OMC) Assistance, PwC’s proposal for “Assistance to PwC’s Operations Management Center (OMC)” was chosen.
- In the AI-powered Graffiti Prevention project, Technological Innovation and Business Solutions won with its “Predictive Graffiti Prevention System using AI.”
- For Smart Driving Supervision, Dive Tech (Tagsonomy) was successful with “Driving Expressions: Intelligent and adaptive monitoring of driving patterns using Dive Tech’s LLM agent.”
Each winning company will develop its proof of concept within a real-world operating environment, supported by a comprehensive mentoring program led by seasoned AI experts.
The selected solutions will be presented again in October before a distinguished jury comprising Renfe executives and key industry figures. Projects demonstrating the greatest potential will then advance towards full integration into Renfe’s technological infrastructure.
The AI Lab is an integral component of Renfe’s broader strategic vision to digitize Spain’s railway sector and foster robust public-private collaboration. Through the deployment of emerging technologies, Renfe aims to build a railway transport system that is safer, more sustainable, and ultimately more efficient for all passengers.
