Rail networks face mounting pressure to do more with the infrastructure they already have: protect maintenance crews, prevent platform incidents, keep yards safe, and modernize train control, all without the multi-year timelines and capital costs of a full signaling overhaul. To address this need, Piper Networks is bringing its full portfolio of SIL-4 (Safety Integrity Level 4) certified positioning and protection systems to two of the industry’s biggest stages: InnoTrans 2026 in Berlin (September 22 to 25) and APTA TRANSform & EXPO 2026 in Chicago (October 4 to 7).
One positioning platform, five safety-critical applications
At the core of everything Piper builds is a simple idea: a transit agency shouldn’t need five different vendors and five different data formats to know exactly where every train, maintenance vehicle, and worker is on the network. Piper’s multi-sensor positioning platform, combining Ultra Wideband (UWB), solid-state TrackSight™ LiDAR, and GPS-RTK, produces one consistent output that feeds directly into:
- Safety Critical Train Positioning (ETLS™): the world’s first SIL-4 certified UWB train positioning system, independently assessed by TÜV SÜD, deployed on MTA New York City’s 7/Flushing and Canarsie Lines and across Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor.
- Automatic Train Protection (ATP-Overlay): collision avoidance, overspeed, and red-signal-overrun protection layered on top of existing signaling, currently deploying on the MBTA Green Line.
- SecureTrack™: a Maintenance-of-Way safety platform for Limits Compliance, Collision Avoidance, Work Zone Management, and Roadway Worker Protection protecting over 800 Amtrak MoW vehicles across five Northeast Corridor regions.
- StandClear™: guideway intrusion detection using TrackSight™ LiDAR and Advanced Perception sensors to identify platform-edge hazards before they become incidents.
- Piper YardCompass™: our newest product, purpose-built for yard monitoring, shunting safety, and coupling proximity awareness.
Why this matters right now
Transit agencies are being asked to close safety gaps in restricted-speed compliance, maintenance-of-way collisions, platform intrusions, and yard operations, often on infrastructure that can’t be taken out of service for a full CBTC buildout. Piper’s approach has always been the same across every product: install on the vehicle or wayside without ripping up track, certify to SIL-4 when possible, and prove it in revenue service before calling it done.
Where to find us
InnoTrans 2026 — Berlin, September 22–25
Hall 27, Booth 770
APTA TRANSform & EXPO 2026 — Chicago, October 4–7
Booth 2843
Stop by to see our sensors on display, along with live demos of the Work Zone Awareness dashboard, the Train Operator Display, and our 2D/3D virtual twin interface.