UITP Summit 2025 at Hamburg
The UITP Summit 2025 is the world's most important mobility conference for public transport and transformed Hamburg into a meeting place for mobility professionals from all over the world. With over 10,000 participants and more than 300 exhibitors, the event provided the perfect stage for DB Regio to present their vision for public transport with impressive exhibits and live demonstrations: modern vehicles such as the “IdeenZugUrban”, real-time utilization systems and concepts such as “S-Bahn 2029+”. With DB Lightgate, the Hamburg S-Bahn presented an interactive exhibit at the stand that makes practical use cases with an augmented reality app accessible to visitors.
DB Lightgate - Innovative real-time utilization recording
DB Lightgate is an innovative product from the Hamburg S-Bahn that intends to solve a significant challenge in the context of the transport revolution. As a result of the traffic turnaround, there are increasingly overcrowded wagons and unevenly distributed passengers. This results in tardiness, security risks and dissatisfaction on the part of everyone involved. Recording train load is therefore an important factor for operational management and passenger management in rail passenger transport. DB Lightgate is a solution that, in contrast to other traditional systems, is easy to integrate into existing vehicles. Thanks to the modular installation on standard carrier systems, DB Lightgate is integrated directly into the existing infrastructure and thus enables efficient and inexpensive measurement. The special thing about it is that Lightgate technology can be used universally for passenger trains with opposite window surfaces. Data transmission and system supply are also optimally implemented. The transmission is wireless and always in compliance with data protection regulations. Thanks to the self-sufficient energy supply via a solar panel, DB Lightgate supplies itself in an energy-efficient manner.
Perfect scenario for augmented reality
In principle, it works like this: passenger train passes through DB Lightgate — DB Lightgate measures the load precisely and in real time.
This scenario can be optimally presented using an exhibit and an augmented reality app. The Lightgate with transmitter box and solar panel as well as a section of an S-Bahn with five passengers can be seen as a detailed exhibition on a smaller scale. The sensor, which is responsible for measuring people, has a small, red-glowing LED lamp, which represents the light barrier.
The function of the other sensors and additional information are clearly visualized using the AR app. At the beginning, users learn which sensor is responsible for which part of the passenger train. Different colors simulate the bounce of the sensors at, for example, the car crossing or the window. Information icons can be used to access further information about the individual components of DB Lightgate in the app.
The next section shows how passenger trains are screened as they pass by. While a virtual S-Bahn, a virtual ICE and a double-decker train whiz through the Lightgate, the display on the iPad screen visualizes the real-time measurement and the other information that DB Lightgate collects in addition to train load. In actual use, the ad appears in a similar form on the displays at S-Bahn stations. This allows passengers to quickly orient themselves, see which wagon still has room and position themselves correctly on the platform accordingly.
Further use cases of the AR app illustrate how DB Lightgate improves operational control by optimizing route planning, emergency management and alternative traffic. At this point, it was once again exciting for visitors: Various scenarios were shown in which users, for example, had to decide for themselves which passenger train should enter the station first. Is it the train that is on time or the one that is delayed by two minutes? A not so easy question if you're not familiar with the area — but it provided a lot of conversation at the stand.
DB Lightgate's presentation with the AR app at the UITP Summit impressively showed how innovative technologies in the mobility sector and augmented reality complement each other to make complex processes in public transport (public transport) visible and an interactive experience for visitors. During its trade fair appearances, Deutsche Bahn has often focused on presenting its innovations with exhibits and augmented reality.
The AR exhibit was designed and developed in collaboration with Müller/romca industrial design.
