Adif and Virtualware develop a railway infrastructure simulator

For the implementation of the SIF system, Adif has relied on the Viroo de Virtualware. This, in addition, has modeled an extensive virtual rail network, covering more than one hundred kilometres and including up to ten different zones on conventional and high-speed lines.

The Spanish public entity in charge of managing the national railway network, Adif, has launched a Railway Infrastructure Simulator (SIF) for training in maintenance operations, which will allow students to carry out collaborative exercises that can be distributed geographically in the company's classrooms. The simulator is based on the Viroo virtual reality platform, developed by Virtualware.

The exercises simulate operations related to traffic safety and risk prevention, as well as the execution of works in specific technical areas of railway construction and maintenance, such as infrastructures and roads, Energy and electrification, o Signaling and telecommunications.

Virtualware has modeled an extensive virtual rail network, covering more than one hundred kilometres and including up to ten different zones on conventional and high-speed lines. Ten different types of rolling stock and numerous stations and technical buildings are also included.

Thanks to freedom of movement in the virtual railway world, Detailed simulation of the operation of real railway systems enables the acquisition of multidisciplinary skills for all operational professions related to safety or railway engineering, as well as for structural personnel, middle management or traffic, and driving staff.

Training sessions can be carried out on various devices, from a desktop PC to virtual reality glasses, immersive cubes with projection or even full-scale virtual reality rooms.

Immersive Room

One of the key elements of the project is the new immersive room of 120 square meters, located in the technological training center of Valencia. This will allow for full-scale, multi-user training sessions.

The first version of the railway infrastructure simulator will be released in the summer of 2024 and will coincide with the face-to-face training of the new hires of the public employment service. Between February and March, The simulator's hardware and software will be deployed throughout the country. From April, teams of instructors from other national and regional centres of ADIF's training sub-directorate will be formed.

Adif and Virtualware have been working together on this project since 2021. The aim is to define the standards and characteristics of this new generation of railway simulators. This method of active and practical learning significantly increases the impact of training and accelerates knowledge transfer. In addition, Comprehensive simulation of work processes and incident resolution avoids risks and the possible impact on railway operations.

Project software components:

Content Builder: tool that helps VR providers create educational content in Unity, including VR pills.

Exercise Builder: web-based app that allows trainers to create and edit exercises by combining VR pills and various multimedia resources such as videos, imagery, text, etc.

Session Manager: Web-based management module that provides a personalized learning experience, allowing the assignment and scheduling of specific exercises per user and per room, and tracking student progress.