At InnoTrans 2026 in Berlin, Germany, Škoda Group demonstrated a system that brings together the three technologies needed to roll out autonomous tram services.

The three technologies comprise Autonomy for collision avoidance and speed limiting, Mobility Apps for fleet management, diagnostics and maintenance, and Smart Depot, which provides an environment where individual technologies are connected into an automated depot operation. 

A demonstration combining the three technologies had previously taken place in Mannheim, Germany and Wroclaw, Poland, and results and experience gained from those demonstrations were integrated into Škoda Group’s presentation at InnoTrans.

The Anti-Collision System operates in real time and uses cameras and sensors to detect obstacles and assess the situation in front of the tram.

The primary part of the system is a virtual tunnel that focuses on objects that are actually on the tram’s path, allowing the system to distinguish objects that do and do not pose a risk to the tram.

This greatly reduces false warnings, which are a main consideration for anti-collision systems in urban environments. 

An Intelligent Speed Limiter controls a tram’s speed by looking at the vehicle’s location and network infrastructure, such as helping to prevent excess speed around a curve or when a driver is on a new or less familiar route. 

 Mobility Apps use vehicle data for fleet management, diagnostics and maintenance. With Fleet Management, operators can plan and manage vehicle deployments, and monitor their availability and access up-to-date information about the entire fleet. |The vehicle data is also used along with artificial intelligence for  predictive diagnostics, which identify potential faults before they occur.

Smart Depot extends the technology to automated depot operation, including autonomous shunting of trams within a depot, automated parking, managing movements of individual vehicles, responding to obstacles, and automated use of a vehicle wash. 

In 2023, Škoda demonstrated the operation of an autonomous tram in Finland. It is also developing systems for automatic train operation, and, also in 2023, it demonstrated a prototype in Poland.