NURail Center of Excellence Announces INNOVARail 2026

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, Ill. –– The NURAIL Center of Excellence at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana announces INNOVARail 2026.

The NURail Center of Excellence has announced the inaugural INNOVARail 2026, a new multidisciplinary conference dedicated to rail research, technology, and development. It will be held May 26–28, 2026, at the iHotel and Conference Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Illinois. Come to present your work and connect with a broad audience representing all sectors of the rail transportation community.

The Center is seeking abstracts on a wide range of rail research, technology, and operations topics, including freight, passenger, and rail transit. We welcome and encourage submissions from all fields related to rail transportation.

Abstracts are due October 6, 2025.

You are invited to submit your abstract (200-300 words) to one of the following tracks:

1. Railroad Track and Infrastructure
2. Rolling Stock
3. Motive Power, Energy, and Propulsion Systems
4. Communication and Train Control
5. Network, Operations, and Capacity
6. Passenger and Transit
7. Safety and Security
8. Innovation and New Technologies

For more information and to submit your abstract, please visit our conference website:

https://2026.ieee-innovarail.org