Welcome to AI4RAILS 2027

8th International Workshop on

“Artificial Intelligence for RAILwayS”

colocated with EDCC 2027

April 6, 2027

Trondheim, Norway

The impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the industry has been so disruptive that it has given rise to a new wave of research and applications. Several sectors have benefited significantly from AI adoption and this positive trend is planned to continue. Modern and future railways represent one of the fields in which AI is expected to have a significant impact in a medium to long-term perspective, to get higher levels of automation. Despite this opening for unprecedented scenarios in railway systems, it also raises concerns regarding system dependability and new threats associated with a high level of autonomy. 

Therefore, the first step towards adopting AI in the railway sector is understanding to what extent AI can be considered reliable, safe, and secure. In such a context, the AI4RAILS workshop series started in 2020, stemming from the Shift2Rail project RAILS (Roadmaps for the AI integration in the raiL Sector), to provide annually a forum for researchers, practitioners, and business leaders to discuss and share new perspectives, ideas, technologies, and solutions for effective and dependable integration of AI techniques in rail-based transportation systems. The current edition is supported by  the Europe's Rail project Academics4Rail.

Themes and Goals 

The 2027 edition of AI4RAILS focuses on human-centered trustworthy AI applications for rail freight and passenger systems. It welcomes research works on AI techniques such as machine learning, neural networks, evolutionary algorithms, computer vision, and knowledge-based systems to enhance the safety and efficiency of next-generation digital railways.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• AI for railway safety,  reliability, and security

• Transferability to railways of AI approaches from other sectors (e.g., avionics, automotive, etc.)

• Autonomous and cooperative train driving, including virtual coupling

• Automatic detection of signals, pedestrians, and obstacles

• Predictive maintenance and defect detection in railways

• AI for rail traffic planning and management

• Adversarial attacks to AI with a focus on railway case-studies

• Cognitive Digital Twins and Resource Allocation for railways

• Run-time model checking with a focus on intelligent railway transportation

• Explainable and trustworthy AI in railway applications

• Certification and compliance standards for autonomous trains

• Agentic and Multi-Agent AI for Rail Operations and Maintenance

• Safety-aware use of generative AI in railway systems

Important Dates 

Paper submission opening date: November 10th, 2026

Paper submission deadline: December 18th, 2026

Author notification: January 20th, 2027

Camera-ready paper due: TBA

Workshop Organizers

• Francesco Flammini, University of Florence, Italy - ✉ (send an email)

• Roberto Nardone, University of Naples Parthenope, Italy - ✉ (send an email)

• Francesco Vitale, University of Naples Federico II, Italy -  ✉ (send an email)

• Valeria Vittorini, University of Naples Federico II, Italy - ✉ (send an email)

Workshop Chairs

• Francesco Flammini, University of Florence, Italy - ✉ (send an email)

• Valeria Vittorini, University of Naples Federico II, Italy - ✉ (send an email)

Program Committee Members (TBC)

• Milan Banic, University of Niš, Republic of Serbia

• Nikola Bešinović, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

• Julie Beugin, Université Gustave Eiffel, France

• Francesco Flammini, IDSIA USI-SUPSI, Switzerland, and University of Florence, Italy

• Hangli Ge, University of Tokyo, Japan

• Mohamed Ghazel, Université Gustave Eiffel, France

• Rob Goverde, TU Delft Transport Institute, Netherlands

• Ronghui Liu, University of Leeds, United Kingdom 

• Fredrik Heintz, Linköping University, Sweden

• Zhiyuan Lin, University of Leeds, UK

• Stefano Marrone, University of Naples Federico II, Italy

• Claudio Mazzariello, Hitachi Rail STS, Italy

• Roberto Nardone, University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy

• Paola Pellegrini, Université Gustave Eiffel, France

• Alberto Petrillo,  University of Naples Federico II, Italy

• Danijela Ristic-Durrant, OHB Digital Services GmbH, Germany, and University of Ni ̆s, Republic of Serbia

• Matteo Salani, IDSIA USI-SUPSI, Switzerland

• Carlo Sansone, University of Naples Federico II, Italy

• Stefania Santini, University of Naples Federico II, Italy

• Ruifan Tang, University of Leeds, UK

• Valeria Vittorini, University of Naples Federico II, Italy

Sponsors