Case Study: Siemens achieves secure, scalable OTA rail updates with Mender

Siemens delivers secure OTA updates to 11,000+ trains with Mender

Siemens Mobility's Mobile Communications division, a provider of advanced rail communication systems, faced challenges in securely managing over-the-air (OTA) software updates for its growing global fleet of thousands of train cab radios. Their internal update tool lacked the scalability and flexibility needed for targeted deployments and could not reliably deliver updates to trains moving at high speeds without disrupting operations. Siemens turned to the vendor Mender for a robust OTA update platform to meet stringent rail security standards and ensure compliance.

By implementing the Mender solution, Siemens gained a secure and scalable platform that delivers reliable updates over LTE-R to trains traveling at speeds exceeding 500 km/h. Mender provided enhanced fleet visibility, dynamic grouping for targeted rollouts, and features like A/B partitioning to ensure operational reliability. This integration allows Siemens to efficiently manage updates for over 11,000 trains in the UK and scale for new projects, all while maintaining compliance with critical IEC 62443 security standards.

Siemens