Triple Success at the 2025 Progressive Railroading Readers’ Choice Awards

We are delighted to announce an extraordinary achievement: Three of our products have been honored with the 2025 Progressive Railroading Readers’ Choice Awards.

The UNISTAR HR was already honored in 2024 – now follows confirmation of our consistent focus on innovation, performance, and sustainability.

The special significance of these awards lies in the fact that they are judged by rail industry professionals. Over 45,000 subscribers to the Progressive Railroading Daily News eNewsletter were invited to vote, and more than 18,000 votes were cast. Thus, the awards reflect which products provide the greatest value to the industry.

UNISTAR HR – Second Victory in a Row

The UNISTAR HR won again in the Communications & Signaling (C&S) Products category . It combines point operation, control, and monitoring in a single intelligent unit, thus increasing availability, safety, and efficiency. Thanks to its robust design, it detects both vital and non-vital conditions and simultaneously supports existing systems as well as future digital interfaces.

Alvarez Gonzalez Daniel, Senior Vice President Product & Market Portfolio, voestalpine Signaling Sainerholz GmbH, said:

Although the UNISTAR HR is already successfully in use worldwide, it continues to impress with the level of development this product brings to its environment – with noticeable improvements and benefits for operators, maintenance engineers, track construction engineers, and designers. The continuous development, full intelligence, and integration of the object controller impressively demonstrate that the UNISTAR HR always remains one step ahead.

UNIVERSAL HST® – Sustainable Flexibility

The UNIVERSAL HST® ( Hollow Switch Tie) was recognized in two categories: New Products (launched in 2023 or after) and Sustainable Products . With its innovative design, it offers maximum flexibility in the field while simultaneously delivering sustainable benefits.

The solution is based on adaptable rail plates mounted on a permanently bonded, electrically insulated intermediate plate. This eliminates the need for separate insulation handling during upgrades. The modular design allows the Universal HST® to be adapted to any switch size, hand side, or machine position. Materials such as composite “blue rods” and plates secured with Huck bolts ensure durability, mechanical stability, and easy maintenance.

Eric Gray, Engineering Manager, R&D Technology Trackwork at voestalpine Railway Systems Nortrak LLC, said:

The Universal HST®'s recognition with the Progressive Railroading Reader's Choice Award in the 'Sustainable Products' category confirms our commitment to innovation and sustainability. It highlights our customers' need for flexible solutions that can be configured for a wide range of application scenarios. The Universal HST® was developed with a special focus on adaptability: Its variable switch plates can be configured for any switch direction and size – all without insulation. The result is a versatile product that reduces inventory requirements, increases signal reliability, and meets the dynamic demands of operation.

The Universal HST ® shows how engineering contributes to efficient and sustainable railway systems.

HA SERIES – Quiet Power for Cities

The HIGH ATTENUATION SPECIAL TRACKWORK DIRECT FIXATION FASTENERS (HA SERIES) were honored in the Existing Product – New Feature or Upgrade category . They are specifically designed for urban applications and significantly reduce noise and vibration.

The system achieves this through a low stiffness of 55,000 lbs/inch and is available in eight sizes of vulcanized, US-made fasteners. Factory-welded shoulders enable quick and reliable installation, while full compatibility with Nortrak-Sondergleisbau’s DF footprints ensures customization without costly retrofits.

Tara Ross, Product Manager at voestalpine Railway Systems Nortrak, said:

voestalpine Railway Systems Nortrak is honored to have our high-damping fastening system for slab track recognized in the 'New Feature' category. With a novel approach to a long-standing problem, our team combined its strengths to develop a compact and innovative system for turnouts that significantly reduces the transmission of noise and vibration to the surrounding environment.

The HA series sets new standards in terms of comfort, environmental compatibility and easy integration into existing systems.

Looking ahead – Innovation on Track

Winning three awards in three different categories is a milestone for us. It demonstrates the breadth of our innovation portfolio: from intelligent control and monitoring systems to sustainable switch solutions and urban damping systems.

These awards are not only a reason for celebration for us, but also an incentive to further expand our role as a global technology leader – for even greater safety, sustainability and Performance on Track ® .