Press Release
Creative minds and smart solutions: InnoTrans honours influencers and hackathon winners
A first for the hackathon, strong growth among influencers: on the final day of InnoTrans, awards were presented for the most imaginative videos and the smartest solutions to real-world challenges facing the industry.
- Railway Influencer Awards presented in four categories
- Debut for the international ‘AI on Track’ hackathon
- InnoTrans brings together digital communication and AI innovations
Creative stories about mobility and innovative AI solutions for the rail industry: on the final day of InnoTrans 2026, two events were dedicated to new ideas. At the second Railway Influencer Festival, outstanding content creators and contributions from the international mobility community were honoured. At the same time, InnoTrans announced the winners of the first-ever international hackathon, “AI on Track”.
“The rail industry needs innovation – and people who can communicate these innovations clearly and with enthusiasm to the wider public,” says InnoTrans Director Kerstin Schulz. “That is precisely what our two events stand for: at the Railway Influencer Festival, we see just how creatively and authentically the international community communicates about mobility. Meanwhile, the hackathon produces concrete technological solutions to the sector’s challenges in a very short space of time. Both demonstrate just how many new ideas are emerging around the future of mobility.”
Railway Influencer Festival: Here are the winners
Following its debut in 2024, the Railway Influencer Festival was significantly larger this year. Around twice as many content creators and some 30 companies gathered in the Marshallhaus cinema for the awards ceremony. An independent jury, comprising representatives from leading industry associations, honoured the winners in four categories:
Best InnoTrans Video: Bahnwelten
Best Brand Video: Windhoff
Best Mobility Channel: bahnblick
Best Urban Mobility Video: Urban Mobility Explained
With these awards, InnoTrans recognises content creators and companies that creatively communicate mobility on social media and reach new target audiences through their content. The categories range from the best InnoTrans-related post, through brand storytelling, to creative stories about public transport and urban mobility.
Premiere for the “AI on Track” hackathon
Whilst the Railway Influencer Festival focused on communication and storytelling, elsewhere on the exhibition grounds people were programming, testing and tinkering. Over a period of three days, the international hackathon “AI on Track” took place as part of the world’s leading trade fair for transport technology. Developers, start-ups and industry experts worked in interdisciplinary teams on real-world challenges from the mobility sector, adding a new perspective to the focus theme of this year’s InnoTrans: the use of artificial intelligence in mobility.
The inaugural event was supported by the main sponsors Alstom, Wabtec and Siemens Mobility. The focus was on practical AI applications and data-driven solutions for more efficient and reliable transport – from operations and infrastructure to the passenger experience.
On Friday, a panel of experts awarded prizes to the best solutions: among the winners were a concept for smart control of on-board air conditioning (“ATMOS”), AI-based timetable optimisation to enable a rapid response to incidents (“NextMove”) and the use of an intelligent voice assistant for ticket booking (“Trackline”).
“The launch of ‘AI on Track’ has demonstrated the potential that arises when we bring technology experts and the rail industry together directly,” says Kerstin Schulz. “Within just a few days, the teams developed new approaches to solving specific challenges. This is precisely what we mean by InnoTrans as an innovation platform: we want not only to showcase innovations, but also to create the space in which new ideas can emerge.”
With the Railway Influencer Festival and “AI on Track”, InnoTrans is broadening its focus on innovation: alongside new rolling stock, products and technologies, the spotlight is also on the people who develop new solutions and communicate the future of mobility to an international audience.
About InnoTrans
InnoTrans is the leading international trade show for transport technology, held every two years in Berlin. The five exhibition segments of InnoTrans comprise Railway Technology, Railway Infrastructure, Public Transport, Interiors and Tunnel Construction. InnoTrans is organised by Messe Berlin. The 15th InnoTrans took place from 22 to 25 September 2026 at the Berlin Exhibition Grounds. Messe Berlin is organising InnoTrans Asia specifically for the Asian market from 7 to 9 September 2027 at the Singapore EXPO grounds. For more information, visit www.innotrans.de and www.innotrans-asia.com and Linkedin.
About Messe Berlin
Berlin has been a trade fair venue for over 200 years, and for many decades one of the most important worldwide. As the trade fair company owned by the capital, every year Messe Berlin conceives, markets and organises hundreds of live events. It aims to be an outstanding host for visitors to every event, to give individuals an optimum boost for their business and ensure fair conditions for everyone. This approach is reflected in the company’s slogan ‘Messe Berlin – Hosting the World’.
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