SDA Forum 2025 – Driving the future of signaling

On October 1, 2025, Prover welcomed industry leaders, researchers, infrastructure managers, and solution providers to Stockholm for the Signaling Design Automation Forum (SDAF). This full-day event focused on accelerating the development of safer, smarter, and more open railway signaling systems.

The forum offered a shared space to explore how open architectures, AI, and formal methods are shaping the future of rail control. Through expert presentations and real-world case studies, attendees gained practical insights into how collaboration, innovation, and transparency can help reduce cost, increase safety, and enable interoperability.

Thank you to all participants, speakers, and partners who contributed to making SDAF 2025 a valuable and forward-looking gathering. Below is a summary of the presentations delivered throughout the day.

“The Open Signaling Initiative”

Jesper Carlström, COO & Open Signaling Lead, Prover

Jesper introduced the Open Signaling Initiative, highlighting the shift toward modular, open, and interoperable systems. By using COTS hardware, open interfaces, and loosely coupled components, the initiative aims to reduce vendor lock-in and enable sustainable, step-by-step modernization.

“A journey without an end”

Kristina Löwenberg, Signaling strategist

Andreas Mårtensson, Ass. signaling safety manager, signaling specialist, Stockholm Public Transport

Kristina and Andreas shared Region Stockholm’s digital journey in signaling, highlighting the need to retain legacy knowledge, build in-house competence, and use formal methods to ensure safety and traceability. They emphasized the importance of organizational readiness, gradual change without traffic disruption, and the long-term value of owning both data and understanding, avoiding vendor lock-in.

“Reuse by design: Faster, Leaner, Safer”

Fredrik Bergström, CEO, Cactus Rail

Fredrik presented Cactus Rail’s approach to automation, focusing on modular digital solutions designed to lower lifecycle costs. He emphasized the importance of cross-supply chain collaboration to deliver signaling solutions that are scalable, safe, and efficient.

“From industry to railways: how Schneider Electric can enable safe and open signaling”

Juan Manuel Martin, Global Solution Architect Railways, Schneider Electric

Juan explained how their Modicon M580 Safety PLC and EcoStruxure platform can be leveraged in railways. He connected decades of industrial safety experience to railway signaling, showing compliance with EULYNX and multiple SIL certifications.

“ERTMS Data & Verification in Switzerland”

Henrik Roslund, Senior Consultant ERTMS/ETCS, MIRSE, TÜV SÜD

Henrik discussed the data and verification challenges in Switzerland’s ETCS Level 2 deployment. He highlighted issues around syntax and data quality, and how automation and formal verification are critical to scaling and streamlining future ERTMS projects.

“Introducing EULYNX Kernels”

Robert Schmid, Founder, Systems Lab 21

Robert presented EULYNX Kernels, a standardized software component used for subsystem integration and compliance. He demonstrated how kernels enable formal behavior modeling, automated testing, and faster development of interoperable signaling systems.

“Scaling Safety: AI and Formal Methods for Rail Control”

Fei Niu, AI & Innovation Lead, Prover

Fei explained how AI can be used to speed up verification and testing in signaling design. The session showcased how combining AI with formal methods reduces project risk, improves safety assurance, and helps bring automation into practice through tools like Prover Studio.

Want to revisit SDAF 2025? Watch the full recording

Whether you missed a session or want to dive deeper into the presentations, the full recording of the Signaling Design Automation Forum 2025 is now available here.