Towards interoperable configuration and diagnostics in Europe's rail

Modern railway infrastructures and rolling stock increasingly rely on configurable software, networked control systems, and intelligent field devices supplied by multiple manufacturers across trackside and onboard domains. However, current approaches to configuration management and diagnostics remain fragmented, relying on vendor-specific tools and proprietary data structures. This fragmentation limits cross-system interoperability, complicates lifecycle management, and constrains the adoption of predictive maintenance and automated system management. This paper presents the conceptual architecture and standardization principles underlying the forthcoming Europe’s Rail Service Function Configuration (SFC) and Service Function Diagnostics (SFD), enabling interoperable configuration and diagnostics across heterogeneous railway systems. Rather than presenting a completed implementation study, the objective is to provide a common architectural foundation that supports future standardization, reference implementations, and quantitative evaluation. The approach extends established dependency-aware configuration management with application-specific safety attestation and a standardized diagnostic interface supporting semantic interoperability across suppliers and product domains. To support cross-system integration and sector-wide analytics, the framework also provides a semantic representation aligned with the ERA ontology, enabling machine-interpretable diagnostic models and federated queries across railway infrastructures. The proposed architecture integrates diverse railway assets – including interlockings, field elements, switches, I/O devices, and rolling stock subsystems – within a unified architectural framework. By combining standardized service functions with semantic interoperability, the approach facilitates coordinated orchestration across heterogeneous railway assets, improved lifecycle management, and enhanced interoperability across the European railway system.