Blackberry’s embedded operating system QNX OS has been certified to the highest safety level for the rail industry, CENELEC EN 50128.

The company is expanding into rail infrastructure, and the certification is likely to accelerate its expansion in the railway industry worldwide. Recent wins include sTraffic, South Korea’s rail infrastructure systems developer as well as Infraestruturas de Portugal, the Portuguese railway infrastructure manager.

The QNX OS for Safety 2.2 operating system has been certified to Safety Level Integrity 4 (SIL-4) of EN 50128, the standard’s the highest safety level. EN 50128 is the core systems safety standard for the rail industry.

“Rail transportation is growing rapidly as trends such as urbanization, green energy, digitalization, and autonomous rail technology drive demand for modern and smart railway systems,” said Grant Courville, VP, Products and Strategy at BlackBerry QNX. “Rail manufacturers and suppliers know they can trust BlackBerry QNX to provide the software building blocks for their robust, safe and secure embedded systems. Gaining the EN 50128 certification will be additional affirmation for our best-in-class technology as we look to further grow our leadership position within an industry that is laying the track for software-driven infrastructure investments at feverish pace, creating countless opportunities for trusted suppliers like ourselves.”

“With worldwide supply chain disruptions across many traditional transport modes, the rail industry is poised for massive growth and thus the certification of the QNX OS for Safety to the key railway functional safety standard could not have come at a better time,” said Adhish Luitel, Senior Analyst at ABI Research. “Because the software-defined railway system is a pillar of this growth, functional safety will be the foundation. BlackBerry QNX is well positioned to serve a massive need for safety-certified software for all types of railway systems as the market embraces innovations like autonomous and high-speed rail, which will be critical to meet the anticipated demand for sophisticated rail transport across the globe.”