UITP heads to InnoTrans 2026: on the rails to Berlin!
From 22 to 25 September 2026, the world’s leading transport technology trade fair returns to Berlin. InnoTrans 2026 will fill all 42 halls of the Messe Berlin expo centre, alongside an outdoor track display stretching 3,500 metres, as well as a dedicated bus display and demonstration course.
InnoTrans takes place every two years, with the 2024 edition drawing nearly 3,000 exhibitors from 59 countries and more than 169,000 visitors from 128 countries. This year’s edition promises to be just as significant for the future of public transport.
UITP will have a noteworthy presence at InnoTrans, with an exhibition booth in the Public Transport segment and, before the fair even opens its doors, a paramount role in one of the most talked about lead up events on the European rail calendar.
A train journey through Germany’s heartland
On 21 September, the day before InnoTrans begins, a chartered European train led by the European Commission together with the European Union Agency for Railways and the rail stakeholders through Europe’s Rail JU will depart Brussels bound for the Berlin Central Station, carrying more than 200 passengers, including European Commission officials, MEPs, national transport authorities, and leading figures from across the rail and public transport sector.
The journey is not just transport; it is a moving conference. While on board, passengers will take part in panel discussions covering four themes shaping the sector’s future: a modern and harmonised next generation railway system, European rail freight, Europe’s high speed rail future, and resilient rail in the face of mounting climate and cyber security concerns.
Furthermore, a dedicated session titled “The Human Railway” will bring together Women in Rail award nominees and sector leaders to explore equity, skills, and passenger experience, a conversation UITP is proud to be part of directly.
UITP’s Secretary General Mohamed Mezghani is confirmed to take part in The Human Railway panel, and UITP’s President Gautier Brodeo will join the Resilient Rail session, both bringing UITP’s perspective on what a genuinely human centred, resilient public transport system looks like in practice.
UITP’s involvement goes further still, with the association leading one of the journey’s interactive sessions, more on that below. Along the way, the train will pass through Aachen and Cologne, with interactive activities including a European Railway Ticketing Championship and a quiz linked to topics raised throughout the sessions.
UITP is also very pleased to be leading one of the journey’s signature moments, the Reunification Challenge. Drawing on Berlin’s own transport history, small teams will take on the role of planners advising the Kohl government in 1990, tasked with integrating the urban rail system of West and East Berlin addressing real world factors such as staffing, political pressure, infrastructure and high public expectation, a hands-on way of showing why integrated public transport and cross border rail matter.
Please note that the sessions on the train are closed and are by invite only.
Meet UITP at the booth
Once in Berlin, the conversation continues at the UITP booth in Hall 7.1B, stand 330 (see the general floor plan here), where visitors can learn more about our work across urban and regional public transport, and about the EU funded projects UITP is currently leading or supporting, from autonomous trams to metro innovation and rail digitalisation, and so much more.
The stand is shared with the Local Host of Hamburg, and much of the conversation there will look ahead to the UITP Summit taking place in Hamburg from 14 to 17 June 2027.
The FP2-R2DATO project of Europe’s Rail JU will also be showing a live demonstration at InnoTrans, with a dedicated timeslot set aside on the exhibition floor for demonstrator activities and a direct exchange with the project’s lead demonstrator.
UITP’s Light Rail Committee will have the opportunity to attend the demonstrations in person, a chance for members to see the project’s digitalisation and automation work in action.
UITP looks forward to bringing this thinking on board the train and to Berlin this September, as the sector comes together to chart the next chapter for European rail and public transport.
