Strategic Infrastructure

Rail Infrastructure

Rail infrastructure covers railway lines, stations, marshalling yards, depots and signalling, including mainline, heavy-haul, metro and light rail systems. One of the capabilities of Transport Infrastructure.

International families: 17k2015 to 2024
Leading country: Germany1.2× the next
All families: 84khome filings included
Over five years: Falling2020 to 2024 against the five before

Year by year

Patent families by country of origin and the year of the earliest filing, 2000 to 2025; 2025 is a part year, still filling in. International families are those for which protection was sought beyond one country.

Volume

International patent families in the capability, by the year of the earliest filing.

Source: Global Institute for National Capability (GINC), 2026. Underlying patents from 107 patent offices, IFI CLAIMS and Google

Share by country

Each country's share of the year's international families, in per cent: the capability's five largest countries of origin, 2015 to 2024, and the rest of the world.

Source: Global Institute for National Capability (GINC), 2026. Underlying patents from 107 patent offices, IFI CLAIMS and Google

Country leaderboard

International patent families, 2015 to 2024, by country of origin. Growth compares the latest five full years with the five before.

Ten largest

Germany

Japan

China

United States

France

Austria

Switzerland

Italy

South Korea

United Kingdom

3,537

3,044

3,029

2,174

1,439

918

423

396

344

307


1	Germany	3,537	20.2%	0.8×	4,678
2	Japan	3,044	17.4%	0.8×	9,478
3	China	3,029	17.3%	1.2×	51,067
4	United States	2,174	12.4%	0.7×	3,606
5	France	1,439	8.2%	0.7×	1,903
6	Austria	918	5.3%	0.9×	992
7	Switzerland	423	2.4%	1.1×	476
8	Italy	396	2.3%	1.0×	589
9	South Korea	344	2.0%	1.6×	5,221
10	United Kingdom	307	1.8%	1.1×	479
11	Sweden	275	1.6%	1.1×	309
12	Canada	189	1.1%	0.6×	281
13	Spain	154	0.9%	0.9×	241
14	Netherlands	132	0.8%	0.6×	190
15	Australia	125	0.7%	1.0×	201
16	Russia	111	0.6%	0.2×	1,885
17	Poland	91	0.5%	1.1×	452
18	Norway	67	0.4%	0.6×	71
19	Taiwan	66	0.4%	1.4×	170
20	Brazil	63	0.4%	1.5×	200
21	India	60	0.3%	1.2×	77
22	Israel	55	0.3%	0.9×	62
23	Czechia	50	0.3%	0.5×	106
24	Finland	48	0.3%	1.0×	56
25	Türkiye	47	0.3%	1.6×	144
26	Belgium	43	0.2%	0.9×	54
27	Denmark	16	0.1%	0.8×	23
28	South Africa	16	0.1%	1.0×	17
29	Luxembourg	15	0.1%	2.0×	17
30	Hungary	15	0.1%	1.1×	27
31	New Zealand	13	0.1%	0.4×	18
32	Ireland	11	0.1%	0.4×	15
33	Portugal	11	0.1%	1.2×	20
34	Singapore	10	0.1%	1.0×	13
35	Mexico	7	0.0%	0.4×	30
36	Hong Kong	5	0.0%	0.3×	26
37	Saudi Arabia	5	0.0%	1.5×	6
38	Malaysia	5	0.0%	1.5×	9
39	Cayman Islands	1	0.0%	0.0×	1
40	Liechtenstein	1	0.0%	–	1

Applicants

The largest applicants by international patent families, 2015 to 2024: across the world, then within each of the five countries with the most families in Rail Infrastructure. Names are as held in the source and are not consolidated across subsidiaries.

Global

17,484 international families

Siemens Mobility GmbH · Germany

ALSTOM TRANSP TECH · France

SIEMENS AG · Germany

HITACHI LTD · Japan

MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP · Japan

ALSTOM HOLDINGS · France

1,338

560

470

420

407

397

Germany

3,537 international families

Siemens Mobility GmbH

SIEMENS AG

BOMBARDIER TRANSP GMBH

KNORR BREMSE SYSTEME

VOITH PATENT GMBH

ALSTOM HOLDINGS

1,295

468

261

193

147

Japan

3,044 international families

HITACHI LTD

MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP

TOYOTA MOTOR CORP

TOYOTA MOTOR CO LTD

DAIFUKU KK

TOSHIBA KK

417

402

200

196

180

143

China

3,029 international families

BYD CO LTD

CRRC TANGSHAN CO LTD

CRRC ZHUZHOU LOCOMOTIVE CO LTD

CRRC QINGDAO SIFANG CO LTD

CASCO SIGNAL LTD

CRRC CHANGCHUN RAILWAY VEHICLES CO LTD

215

199

197

195

155

150

United States

2,174 international families

TRANSP IP HOLDINGS LLC

WESTINGHOUSE AIR BRAKE TECH CORP

BNSF RAILWAY CO

TRANSPORTATION IP HOLDINGS LLC

SIEMENS MOBILITY INC

AMSTED RAIL CO INC

144

104

France

1,439 international families

0.7% shared · 155 families in both

China

Japan

United States

France

South Korea

482

422

420

416

286

Crosswalk

How Rail Infrastructure is matched to the patent classifications. The entries below were chosen for it; each stands for itself and everything beneath it in the scheme, 1,336 Cooperative entries in all. A patent family counts when any of its codes, in either scheme and at any office, falls under one of them. Codes since retired are placed under the entries that replaced them.

Entry	Title in the scheme	Why it is chosen	CPC codes	IPC codes	Documents
B61	Railways	Railways: systems, rolling stock, signalling and traffic control	930	578	876,823
E01B	Permanent way; permanent-way tools; machines for making railways of all kinds	Railway track and track-laying machines	339	228	250,064
B60M	Power supply lines, and devices along rails, for electrically- propelled vehicles	Overhead lines and power rails for electric traction	42	32	55,549
B60L5/00	Current collectors for power supply lines of electrically-propelled vehicles	Pantographs and current collectors	28	24	37,031
B60L13/00	Electric propulsion for monorail vehicles, suspension vehicles or rack railways; Magnetic suspension or levitation for vehicles	Maglev and monorail propulsion	9	6	21,591

CPC and IPC codes are the codes in use on patent documents, at any office, that fall under the entry. Documents is the larger of the two schemes' counts of documents carrying one of them. An entry with no IPC codes can be told apart only in the Cooperative scheme.

The Cooperative codes in use that count towards Rail Infrastructure: 1,348 codes on 1,119,038 documents. The 150 most used are listed; the full list is in the cpc-to-capability.csv download.

Code	Title	Under entry	How placed	Documents
B61L25/025	Absolute localisation, e.g. providing geodetic coordinates	B61	In the scheme	10,351
B61L15/0081	On-board diagnosis or maintenance	B61	In the scheme	7,757
B61L15/0027	Radio-based, e.g. using GSM-R	B61	In the scheme	7,631
B61K9/08	Measuring installations for surveying permanent way	B61	In the scheme	7,368
B61L27/20	Trackside control of safe travel of vehicle or train, e.g. braking curve calculation	B61	In the scheme	7,366
B61L15/0072	On-board train data handling	B61	In the scheme	7,311
B61L25/021	Measuring and recording of train speed	B61	In the scheme	6,676
B61F5/52	Bogie frames	B61	In the scheme	6,579
B61C17/00	Arrangement or disposition of parts; Details or accessories not otherwise provided for; Use of control gear and control systems	B61	In the scheme	6,127
B61B1/02	General arrangement of stations and platforms including protection devices for the passengers	B61	In the scheme	5,815
B61H5/00	Applications or arrangements of brakes with substantially radial braking surfaces pressed together in axial direction, e.g. disc brakes	B61	In the scheme	5,623
B61L27/70	Details of trackside communication	B61	In the scheme	5,503
B61D15/00	Other railway vehicles, e.g. scaffold cars; Adaptations of vehicles for use on railways	B61	In the scheme	5,393
B61L27/40	Handling position reports or trackside vehicle data	B61	In the scheme	5,367
B61B13/00	Other railway systems	B61	In the scheme	5,265
B61L23/00	Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains	B61	In the scheme	5,251
B61L2205/04	Satellite based navigation systems, e.g. global positioning system [GPS]	B61	In the scheme	5,145
B61L27/04	Automatic systems, e.g. controlled by train; Change-over to manual control	B61	In the scheme	5,109
B61L23/041	Obstacle detection	B61	In the scheme	4,899
B61B13/04	Monorail systems	B61	In the scheme	4,798
B60L5/005	Current collectors for power supply lines of electrically-propelled vehicles without mechanical contact between the collector and the power supply line	B60L5/00	In the scheme	4,391
B61L25/02	Indicating or recording positions or identities of vehicles or trains	B61	In the scheme	4,348
E01B27/17	Sleeper-tamping machines combined with means for lifting, levelling or slewing the track	E01B	In the scheme	4,292
B61C3/00	Electric locomotives or railcars	B61	In the scheme	4,270
E01B19/003	Means for reducing the development or propagation of noise	E01B	In the scheme	4,215
E01B27/16	Sleeper-tamping machines	E01B	In the scheme	4,200
E01B35/00	Applications of measuring apparatus or devices for track-building purposes	E01B	In the scheme	4,200
B61F5/24	Means for damping or minimising the canting, skewing, pitching, or plunging movements of the underframes	B61	In the scheme	4,180
B61B3/02	Elevated railway systems with suspended vehicles with self-propelled vehicles	B61	In the scheme	4,127
B61B13/08	Sliding or levitation systems	B61	In the scheme	4,120
B61L27/57	Trackside diagnosis or maintenance, e.g. software upgrades for vehicles or trains, e.g. trackside supervision of train conditions	B61	In the scheme	4,055
B61D27/0018	Air-conditioning means, i.e. combining at least two of the following ways of treating or supplying air, namely heating, cooling or ventilating	B61	In the scheme	3,958
B61F5/38	Arrangements or devices for adjusting or allowing self- adjustment of wheel axles or bogies when rounding curves, e.g. sliding axles, swinging axles	B61	In the scheme	3,930
E01B2203/16	Guiding or measuring means, e.g. for alignment, canting, stepwise propagation	E01B	In the scheme	3,928
B61D19/02	Door arrangements specially adapted for rail vehicles for carriages	B61	In the scheme	3,911
B61L27/00	Central railway traffic control systems; Trackside control; Communication systems specially adapted therefor	B61	In the scheme	3,901
B61L27/53	Trackside diagnosis or maintenance, e.g. software upgrades for trackside elements or systems, e.g. trackside supervision of trackside control system conditions	B61	In the scheme	3,887
B61L15/0036	Conductor-based, e.g. using CAN-Bus, train-line or optical fibres	B61	In the scheme	3,795
B60L13/04	Magnetic suspension or levitation for vehicles	B60L13/00	In the scheme	3,762
B61G5/02	Couplings for special purposes not otherwise provided for for coupling articulated trains, locomotives and tenders or the bogies of a vehicle; Coupling by means of a single coupling bar; Couplings preventing or limiting relative lateral movement of vehicles	B61	In the scheme	3,615
B61L25/026	Relative localisation, e.g. using odometer	B61	In the scheme	3,598
B61L3/121	Devices along the route for controlling devices on the vehicle or train, e.g. to release brake or to operate a warning signal at selected places along the route, e.g. intermittent control simultaneous mechanical and electrical control controlling electrically using magnetic or electrostatic induction; using radio waves using magnetic induction	B61	In the scheme	3,490
E01B1/002	Ballastless track, e.g. concrete slab trackway, or with asphalt layers	E01B	In the scheme	3,467
B61C17/04	Arrangement or disposition of driving cabins, footplates or engine rooms; Ventilation thereof	B61	In the scheme	3,432
B61C17/12	Control gear; Arrangements for controlling locomotives from remote points in the train or when operating in multiple units	B61	In the scheme	3,423
B61B12/02	Suspension of the load; Guiding means, e.g. wheels; Attaching traction cables	B61	In the scheme	3,369
B61D17/10	Floors	B61	In the scheme	3,366
B61D49/00	Other details	B61	In the scheme	3,304
B61L27/16	Trackside optimisation of vehicle or train operation	B61	In the scheme	3,295
B61D17/08	Sides	B61	In the scheme	3,267
B60M1/28	Manufacturing or repairing trolley lines	B60M	In the scheme	3,263
B61F5/50	Other details	B61	In the scheme	3,201
B61F9/00	Rail vehicles characterised by means for preventing derailing, e.g. by use of guide wheels	B61	In the scheme	3,170
B61L15/0058	On-board optimisation of vehicle or vehicle train operation	B61	In the scheme	3,158
B61B12/06	Safety devices or measures against cable fracture	B61	In the scheme	3,124
B61L15/0062	On-board target speed calculation or supervision	B61	In the scheme	3,123
B61L15/009	On-board display devices	B61	In the scheme	3,108
E01B31/17	Removing metal from rails, rail joints, or baseplates, e.g. for deburring welds, reconditioning worn rails by grinding	E01B	In the scheme	3,098
B61G7/10	Mounting of the couplings on the vehicle	B61	In the scheme	3,061
E01B9/303	Fastening on wooden or concrete sleepers or on masonry with clamp members by resilient steel clips the clip being a shaped bar	E01B	In the scheme	2,992
E01B2/00	General structure of permanent way	E01B	In the scheme	2,989
B61D17/12	Roofs	B61	In the scheme	2,985
B60L13/03	Electric propulsion by linear motors	B60L13/00	In the scheme	2,982
B61D47/00	Loading or unloading devices combined with vehicles, e.g. loading platforms, doors convertible into loading and unloading ramps	B61	In the scheme	2,968
B61F3/04	Types of bogies with more than one axle with driven axles or wheels	B61	In the scheme	2,961
B61D17/06	End walls	B61	In the scheme	2,953
B61L25/04	Indicating or recording train identities	B61	In the scheme	2,912
B61D25/00	Window arrangements peculiar to rail vehicles	B61	In the scheme	2,897
B60M3/00	Feeding power to supply lines in contact with collector on vehicles; Arrangements for consuming regenerative power	B60M	In the scheme	2,847
E01B2203/10	Track-lifting or-lining devices or methods	E01B	In the scheme	2,846
B60M7/00	Power lines or rails specially adapted for electrically-propelled vehicles of special types, e.g. suspension tramway, ropeway, underground railway	B60M	In the scheme	2,844
B61H1/00	Applications or arrangements of brakes with a braking member or members co-operating with the periphery of the wheel rim, a drum or the like	B61	In the scheme	2,802
B61K9/12	Measuring or surveying wheel-rims	B61	In the scheme	2,791
B61D17/22	Communication passages between coaches; Adaptation of coach ends therefor flexible, e.g. bellows	B61	In the scheme	2,719
B61L19/06	Interlocking devices having electrical operation	B61	In the scheme	2,693
B61D17/20	Communication passages between coaches; Adaptation of coach ends therefor	B61	In the scheme	2,658
B61B3/00	Elevated railway systems with suspended vehicles	B61	In the scheme	2,652
B61B13/10	Tunnel systems	B61	In the scheme	2,642
B61L5/10	Locking mechanisms for points; Means for indicating the setting of points	B61	In the scheme	2,641
B61C9/50	Transmission systems in or for locomotives or motor railcars with electric motor propulsion with motors supported on vehicle frames and driving axles, e.g. axle or nose suspension in bogies	B61	In the scheme	2,627
B60L5/38	Current collectors for power supply lines of electrically-propelled vehicles for collecting current from conductor rails	B60L5/00	In the scheme	2,594
B61D17/04	Construction details of vehicle bodies with bodies of metal; with composite, e.g. metal and wood body structures	B61	In the scheme	2,591
B60M1/30	Power rails	B60M	In the scheme	2,547
B60L5/00	Current collectors for power supply lines of electrically-propelled vehicles	B60L5/00	In the scheme	2,538
E01B7/02	Tongues; Associated constructions	E01B	In the scheme	2,537
B61D3/184	Wagons or vans adapted for carrying special loads for vehicles specially adapted for heavy vehicles, e.g. public work vehicles, trucks, trailers the heavy vehicles being of the trailer or semi-trailer type	B61	In the scheme	2,530
B61L23/04	Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains for monitoring the mechanical state of the route	B61	In the scheme	2,518
E01B19/00	Protection of permanent way against development of dust or against the effect of wind, sun, frost, or corrosion; Means to reduce development of noise	E01B	In the scheme	2,501
B61F5/22	Guiding of the vehicle underframes with respect to the bogies	B61	In the scheme	2,488
E01B25/24	Supporting rails; Auxiliary balancing rails; Supports or connections for rails	E01B	In the scheme	2,484
B61B1/00	General arrangement of stations, platforms, or sidings; Railway networks; Rail vehicle marshalling systems	B61	In the scheme	2,461
B61H13/02	Hand or other personal actuation	B61	In the scheme	2,455
B61L27/10	Operations, e.g. scheduling or time tables	B61	In the scheme	2,440
B61D27/00	Heating, cooling, ventilating, or air-conditioning	B61	In the scheme	2,430
E01B9/68	Pads or the like, e.g. of wood, rubber, placed under the rail, tie-plate, or chair	E01B	In the scheme	2,397
B61L3/125	Devices along the route for controlling devices on the vehicle or train, e.g. to release brake or to operate a warning signal at selected places along the route, e.g. intermittent control simultaneous mechanical and electrical control controlling electrically using magnetic or electrostatic induction; using radio waves using short-range radio transmission	B61	In the scheme	2,392
B61L1/20	Safety arrangements for preventing or indicating malfunction of the device, e.g. by leakage current, by lightning	B61	In the scheme	2,372
B60L13/10	Combination of electric propulsion and magnetic suspension or levitation	B60L13/00	In the scheme	2,358
B61F5/14	Side bearings	B61	In the scheme	2,357
B61G9/10	Draw-gear combined with buffing appliances with separate mechanical friction shock-absorbers	B61	In the scheme	2,357
B61G3/04	Couplings comprising mating parts of similar shape or form which can be coupled without the use of any additional element or elements with coupling head having a guard arm on one side and a knuckle with angularly-disposed nose and tail portions pivoted to the other side thereof, the nose of the knuckle being the coupling part, and means to lock the knuckle in coupling position, e.g. "A.A.R." or "Janney" type	B61	In the scheme	2,353
E01B2203/12	Tamping devices	E01B	In the scheme	2,346
B61L23/042	Track changes detection	B61	In the scheme	2,344
B60M7/003	Power lines or rails specially adapted for electrically-propelled vehicles of special types, e.g. suspension tramway, ropeway, underground railway for vehicles using stored power (e.g. charging stations)	B60M	In the scheme	2,334
B61D3/20	Wagons or vans adapted for carrying special loads for forwarding containers	B61	In the scheme	2,324
B61F5/305	Axle-boxes mounted for movement under spring control in vehicle or bogie underframes incorporating rubber springs	B61	In the scheme	2,311
B61G5/08	Couplings for special purposes not otherwise provided for for, or combined with, couplings or connectors for fluid conduits or electric cables for fluid conduits	B61	In the scheme	2,309
B61L15/0018	Communication with or on the vehicle or train	B61	In the scheme	2,302
B61G5/10	Couplings for special purposes not otherwise provided for for, or combined with, couplings or connectors for fluid conduits or electric cables for electric cables	B61	In the scheme	2,296
B61F5/32	Guides, e.g. plates, for axle-boxes	B61	In the scheme	2,292
B61D15/06	Buffer cars; Arrangements or construction of railway vehicles for protecting them in case of collisions	B61	In the scheme	2,289
B61B12/00	Component parts, details or accessories not provided for in groups B61B7/00 - B61B11/00	B61	In the scheme	2,286
B61L3/04	Devices along the route for controlling devices on the vehicle or train, e.g. to release brake or to operate a warning signal at selected places along the route, e.g. intermittent control simultaneous mechanical and electrical control controlling mechanically	B61	In the scheme	2,271
B61D17/043	Construction details of vehicle bodies with bodies of metal; with composite, e.g. metal and wood body structures connections between superstructure sub-units	B61	In the scheme	2,252
B61D19/005	Door arrangements specially adapted for rail vehicles characterised by the movements of the door sliding	B61	In the scheme	2,238
B61B12/002	Cabins; Ski-lift seats	B61	In the scheme	2,222
B61L11/02	Operation of points from the vehicle or by the passage of the vehicle using mechanical interaction between vehicle and track	B61	In the scheme	2,221
B61L5/02	Mechanical devices for operating points or scotch-blocks, e.g. local manual control	B61	In the scheme	2,218
B61D17/00	Construction details of vehicle bodies	B61	In the scheme	2,216
B61C3/02	Electric locomotives or railcars with electric accumulators	B61	In the scheme	2,215
B61B7/00	Rope railway systems with suspended flexible tracks	B61	In the scheme	2,200
E01B7/00	Switches; Crossings	E01B	In the scheme	2,198
B61C9/38	Transmission systems in or for locomotives or motor railcars with electric motor propulsion	B61	In the scheme	2,197
B61F5/10	Bolster supports or mountings incorporating fluid springs	B61	In the scheme	2,196
E01B29/00	Laying, rebuilding, or taking-up tracks; Tools or machines therefor	E01B	In the scheme	2,191
B61L15/00	Indicators provided on the vehicle or train for signalling purposes	B61	In the scheme	2,179
B61C13/04	Locomotives or motor railcars characterised by their application to special systems or purposes for elevated railways with rigid rails	B61	In the scheme	2,177
B61L27/60	Testing or simulation	B61	In the scheme	2,136
B61B10/025	Coupling and uncoupling means between power track abd vehicles	B61	In the scheme	2,129
E01B25/00	Tracks for special kinds of railways	E01B	In the scheme	2,129
B61K13/00	Other auxiliaries or accessories for railways	B61	In the scheme	2,126
B61D47/005	Loading or unloading devices combined with road vehicles carrying wagons, e.g. ramps, turntables, lifting means	B61	In the scheme	2,103
B61D3/10	Articulated vehicles	B61	In the scheme	2,098
B61D27/009	Means for ventilating only	B61	In the scheme	2,086
B61L23/34	Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains for indicating the distance between vehicles or trains by the transmission of signals therebetween	B61	In the scheme	2,060
B61L23/047	Track or rail movements	B61	In the scheme	2,059
E01B3/16	Transverse or longitudinal sleepers; Other means resting directly on the ballastway for supporting rails made from steel	E01B	In the scheme	2,053
B61F5/16	Centre bearings or other swivel connections between underframes and bolsters or bogies	B61	In the scheme	2,032
B61D3/18	Wagons or vans adapted for carrying special loads for vehicles	B61	In the scheme	2,025
E01B1/001	Track with ballast	E01B	In the scheme	1,994
B61L23/14	Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains for controlling traffic in one direction only automatically operated	B61	In the scheme	1,976
B61D3/16	Wagons or vans adapted for carrying special loads	B61	In the scheme	1,970
B61K9/10	Measuring installations for surveying permanent way for detecting cracks in rails or welds thereof	B61	In the scheme	1,954
B61D23/02	Folding steps for railway vehicles, e.g. hand or mechanically actuated	B61	In the scheme	1,923
B61H13/00	Actuating rail-vehicle brakes	B61	In the scheme	1,923
B61F5/02	Arrangements permitting limited transverse relative movements between vehicle underframe or bolster and bogie; Connections between underframes and bogies	B61	In the scheme	1,903
B61D17/02	Construction details of vehicle bodies reducing air resistance by modifying contour ; Constructional features for fast vehicles sustaining sudden variations of atmospheric pressure, e.g. when crossing in tunnels	B61	In the scheme	1,901
B61F5/122	Bolster supports or mountings incorporating dampers with friction surfaces	B61	In the scheme	1,900
E01B29/02	Transporting, laying, removing, or renewing lengths of assembled track, assembled switches, or assembled crossings	E01B	In the scheme	1,898
B61F3/16	Types of bogies with a separate axle for each wheel	B61	In the scheme	1,894

Match: Direct

The capability is itself a technology or a kind of physical system, and the classification names it. B61 includes rolling stock and cable railways as well as fixed infrastructure. The crosswalk is a first pass that nobody has reviewed.

Rail Infrastructure

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Volume

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Country leaderboard

Ten largest

Applicants

Global

Germany

Japan

China

United States

France

Similar capabilities

Crosswalk

Other capabilities in Transport Infrastructure