Horizons of Railway Transport

It took place from 7 to 9 October in Jasná and was organized by the University of Žilina, Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communications, in cooperation with the Association of Railway Operators of Slovakia (AROS) and with the support of important partners from the railway sector as well as three railway companies.

Almost 150 participants from nine countries confirmed that the railway sector is becoming an active part of the European space for science, innovation and interoperability. The Horizons of Railway Transport 2025 conference in Jasná showed that the future of railways is based on digitalization, stable financing and investments in people.

One of the topics presented was digitalization and automation. Peter Ihnát, Director of the Operation, Transportation and Wagon Service Section of ZSSK CARGO, explained the key reasons for automation and digitalization. He recalled the four basic pillars of these processes and emphasized that digitalization is the result of a balance between standards, law, data and security. Cybersecurity as the fourth pillar of trust and stability of digitalization was mentioned several times in the context of the fact that cybersecurity is not a brake on digitalization, but a guarantee that digitalization will not stop.

The conference Horizons of Railway Transport 2025 confirmed that rail transport is of fundamental importance for ecological, safe and competitive mobility in Europe. Slovakia is facing strategic decisions that will determine its position on the European railway network.

The conference participants call on the state, infrastructure manager, carriers, industry and academia to make joint efforts to achieve these goals. Slovakia's ambition should be to become a leader in digitalization, interoperability, and human capital development in the railway sector of Central Europe.