The D-Fine & Planqc consortium has been awarded a tender to support the QCMobility | Rail Transport project, which is led by the DLR Institute of Transportation Systems. The project aims to systematically test the use of quantum-based algorithms in real rail scenarios, from short-term dispatch to strategic planning. This collaboration was initiated through a tender process and includes partners from the rail sector and research institutions.
The consortium, composed of D-Fine and Planqc, will work with rail transport partners Hessische Landesbahn, DB InfraGO, and ÖBB Infrastruktur, who will provide practical use cases and real-world data. The Fraunhofer Institute for Cognitive Systems (IKS) is contributing expertise in quantum-assisted AI. The project will address complex decision-making problems, such as real-time adjustments for disruptions and long-term timetable planning, which are challenges for conventional approaches.
The goal of the project is to translate real-world rail challenges into mathematical models and solve them using quantum-based optimization. The results will be compared with conventional methods and used to develop a roadmap for the future application of quantum computers in the rail sector. This collaboration demonstrates a practical application of quantum computing and quantum machine learning to a major industrial use case, with the aim of estimating the technology’s potential for improving rail transport efficiency and reliability.
Read the full announcement from the DLR Institute of Quantum Technologies here.
August 25, 2025
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