Safety Platform for Object Controllers in Practice: Three Application Scenarios
Open trackside cubicle with Frauscher FAdP Point, FAdP TDS and FAdP I/O modules mounted.

Safety Platform for Object Controllers in Practice: Three Application Scenarios

Image of Florian Einboeck

Florian Einböck

23 Oct 2026 | 6 min read

A generic platform for Object Controllers is best judged by how it performs in practice. Decentralised, standardised architectures have been discussed as the future of signalling for some time – the more interesting question is how they can be applied to the very different requirements operators face today. Three scenarios built around the Frauscher Advanced Platform FAdP illustrate this: a multi-vendor integration under real operating conditions, a space- and cost-driven consolidation, and a pragmatic migration path for legacy infrastructure. The first is already being implemented in the field.

Three scenarios, one generic platform

Multi-vendor integration under real conditions: Finland's Digirail project

The Digirail project of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency (FTIA) marks a milestone for European signalling technology: for the first time, Object Controllers were tendered separately from the central safety system. Frauscher Sensor Technology supplies EULYNX-compliant Object Controllers: One for point control, based on FAdP and one for train detection, based on the proven Frauscher Advanced Counter FAdC®, via system integrator Mipro Oy, working alongside Siemens and Relesoft to integrate both with the Siemens DS3 interlocking via the standardised EULYNX interfaces SCI-P and SCI-TDS.

Open Cubicle with product FAdP Point mounted.

The first integration tests ran between October and November 2025 at the Track Technology Learning Centre in Kouvola under real operating conditions. Following commissioning and configuration, the FAdP Point units delivered precise results from the outset, controlling various Siemens point machine types without difficulty, while point end-position monitoring performed as specified. The test scope also covered encrypted communication via SSI. The project experience confirms that successful multi-vendor integration depends as much on close collaboration between all stakeholders as on the technology itself, particularly around interface parameterisation and subsystem coordination.

Consolidating Object Controller types in a single cabinet

A conventional station area with points, track vacancy detection and additional field I/O functions typically requires three separate systems, each with its own cabinet, power supply, climate control and redundant network components – and, where communication is encrypted, two cybersecurity modules per Object Controller. Costs rise accordingly.

Cubicle from the inside where several products like FAdP Point, FAdP I/O and FAdP TDS are mounted.

The FAdP platform concept offers a consolidated alternative that is ready for implementation: FAdP Point, FAdP TDS and FAdP IO combined in a single decentralised cabinet, sharing power protection and connectivity infrastructure through two Frauscher Connect Devices. Frauscher Connect supports up to 6 RaSTA connections, implements the standardised EULYNX Baseline 4 interfaces and acts as an OPC-UA aggregator for diagnostic data. In the scenario analysed, this results in a volume reduction of 60 to 80% compared with three separate installations, a single power supply instead of three, and shared climate control that lowers energy consumption and operating costs. Because the underlying hardware platform is identical across all three Object Controller types, configuration remains software-based, and factory acceptance testing, documentation and logistics all benefit from the consolidation.

Migrating legacy interlockings without new fieldwork

Many markets still operate relay-based or electronic interlockings, with extensive cabling, proprietary interfaces and strong supplier dependency. A complete interlocking replacement is often not economically or operationally feasible, particularly across large, heterogeneous networks – yet operators increasingly need digital architectures to improve maintainability, scalability and lifecycle efficiency. 

 

Modern Object Controllers show how such a migration can be realised pragmatically. Where ageing, star-shaped cabling no longer meets availability and safety requirements, FAdP Point can take over safe control and monitoring of the point field element, while FAdP IO acts as an adapter on the interlocking side: it receives the existing electrical signals, translates them into digital signals and transmits them via RaSTA over an IP-based network to FAdP Point. The interlocking logic itself remains unchanged, as FAdP IO emulates the relevant parameters, such as operationally induced delays, of the established connection. Beyond replacing long cable runs, this approach can reduce cable breaks, insulation faults and theft exposure, while providing condition-monitoring data – currents, voltages and mechanical point machine parameters – from day one. Because FAdP Point and FAdP IO are EULYNX-compatible by design, this incremental step keeps a later, fully EULYNX-compliant architecture within reach. 

Digirail shows that decentralised, standardised Object Controllers are already working in the field today. Together with the other two scenarios, it shows how differently operators can apply the same platform logic to their own starting point, whether that is a greenfield, multi-vendor tender or a legacy network that needs a pragmatic way forward.
Florian Einböck

Head of Portfolio Strategy

What the three scenarios have in common

Across all three, the same platform strategy applies: a high proportion of generic components, standardised EULYNX Baseline 4 interfaces, and a consistent separation of safety and security through modular connectivity units. That separation is what allows each approach to follow an independent lifecycle strategy – point control, train detection and I/O can be updated, extended or migrated on their own timeline over service periods of more than 30 years, without one subsystem's upgrade cycle dictating another's.

Taken together, the three scenarios show a generic Object Controller platform that has already left the drawing board: first proven in a multi-vendor setting in Finland, and flexible enough to meet operators wherever their modernisation journey currently stands.

Image of Florian Einboeck

Florian Einböck

Head of Portfolio Strategy

Share this post

Get in touch with our team!

Interested in finding out more about the Frauscher Advanced Platform FAdP?

similar articles
More blog articles that could also interest you
1/5

All signals green: Frauscher's vision for tomorrow's railways

Frauscher Marketing

15 Sep 2026 | 6 min read

Turning Data into Valuable Insights: Cloud-based Monitoring Solutions for Reliable and Efficient Railways

Thomas Hartinger

19 Jan 2026 | 7 min read

Frauscher Officially Part of Wabtec: A New Chapter in the Rail Industry’s Digital Transformation

Frauscher Marketing

11 Dec 2025 | 7 min read

Frauscher looks back on recent achievements and outlines plans for continued success

Frauscher Marketing

24 Apr 2024 | 8 min read

Digitisation in railway operations

Thomas Hartinger

12 Jan 2024 | 5 min read