Source: Knorr-Bremse announcement

MUNICH/RA’ANANA, Israel – Knorr-Bremse, a global market leader for braking and other systems for rail and commercial vehicles, has increased its investment in the Israeli company Rail Vision.

Knorr-Bremse has acquired an additional 19.8 percent of the shares for $10 million. As a result, Knorr-Bremse now holds a 36.8 percent stake in the start-up, which specializes in sensor technology and obstacle detection based on artificial intelligence and deep learning.

“We are delighted to further strengthen and expand our strategic commitment to Rail Vision,” said Dr. Nicolas Lange, Chairman of the Management Board of Knorr-Bremse Rail Vehicle Systems. “The systems developed by Rail Vision hold great potential for numerous new applications as train operation becomes progressively more automated in the future. For us as a global technology leader, this makes the young company an exciting and highly attractive partner in designing mobility and transport solutions for rail.”

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“Having Knorr-Bremse as partner gives us the opportunity not only to think big but to further develop our systems and execute our projects on a bigger worldwide scale”, said Sam Donnerstein, executive chairman of Rail Vision.

By paying $10 million, the company has acquired an additional 19.8 percent of Rail Vision and now holds 36.8 percent of its share capital. However, Knorr-Bremse and Rail Vision have been partners in the development of object and obstacle detection systems for rail vehicles since March 2019. At that time, Knorr-Bremse acquired an initial stake in the Israeli company, thereby taking another important step towards system solutions for automated rail travel.

Recently, Knorr-Bremse and Rail Vision announced that they will equip shunting locomotives of the Swiss rail operator SBB Cargo with remote-controlled electro-optic systems for obstacle detection.

After prototype testing is successfully completed at the end of the first quarter of 2021, the partners will examine further business opportunities for integrating these systems into rail freight vehicles.