Intelligent Front Lighting : Innovation by MAFELEC TEAM

When trains operate safely in all weather conditions and at any speed, there is often more behind it than just technology—such as intelligent lighting systems that act proactively. In today’s Innovation Talk, Philippe Vivancos (Marketing & Innovation Director) from the MAFELEC TEAM discusses Smart front lighting for rail vehicles, Rail 4.0, and why lighting is now much more than just visibility.

Mr. Vivancos, you have been part of the MAFELEC TEAM for many years. What makes your company a pioneer in train front lighting?
For over 15 years, we have been active in LED front lighting solutions, with more than 120 projects completed and over 80,000 headlights in operation worldwide. Many of these have been reliably running in daily rail service for more than a decade.

Our major breakthrough was the first modular light known for its Daisy-Flower design, which combines up to five lighting functions in a single module. This was a milestone in terms of integration and multifunctionality. The key lies in our holistic approach: we develop and produce almost everything in-house, from PCB assembly to series production, all at our site in Chimilin, France.

And we think beyond the product: How can maintenance be designed proactively? What future requirements will arise? How can lighting become smarter?

What specific solutions do you offer?
Our strength lies in flexibility and modularity:

• We offer off-the-shelf standard solutions for classic applications,
• Semi-custom solutions, such as our M-LIGHT series with customer-specific mechanical variants,
• And full-custom solutions with tailored optical and electronic functionalities in order to meet aesthetic design requirements for signaling and visual signature.

Our products comply with international standards and are used worldwide, in the EU, USA, India, Australia, Japan, and China. We are especially proud of our in-house development organization and our comprehensive service portfolio, including holistic light measurement directly at the customer’s site. This enables us to precisely tailor both new and retrofit projects to the specific conditions.

Who are your products and services aimed at?
We work with nearly all rail vehicle manufacturers worldwide, from high-speed trains to metros, trams, locomotives, rail/road vehicles, and special vehicle construction. Our role is clear: we are development partners, not just suppliers. We support our customers throughout the entire project development cycle and beyond, including after-sales.

For which markets are M-LIGHT and Custom-LIGHT designed?
Worldwide. Our solutions are designed to be precisely adaptable to each market, both technically and normatively. Our expertise allows us to respond accurately and flexibly to customer needs and requirements.

How does the MAFELEC TEAM define Rail 4.0? What does this mean concretely for your product portfolio?
EVOLUTION is our motto.
We are driven by the constant need to imagine the future, anticipate market trends, and stay one step ahead. Innovation is not a choice but a commitment.

Our journey began with basic signaling functions – lighting solutions designed simply to see and be seen. As customer expectations evolved, so did we. We introduced signature lighting to meet increasingly sophisticated aesthetic demands, reinforcing brand identity and visual distinction.

Today, we’ve entered a new era: one of connectivity and embedded intelligence.

Evolution isn’t just our motto but our mindset.

With our M-SMART Interface, we bring smart features into lighting technology. Our lighting no longer functions as passive sources instead, they interact intelligently with the vehicle. A SMART product measures and collects field data, thinks along, optimizes operation, detects faults early, enables real-time communication and can be configured and updated remotely. This increases availability, safety, and customer satisfaction.

Concretely, this means:

• Predictive maintenance with real-time data on LED aging and more,
• Sensors for temperature, humidity and other physical data,
• Data logging and event recording,
• Scenario player for automated lighting configurations.

The system integrates into the TCMS via CAN or Ethernet and can be configured remotely. The result: greater availability, enhanced safety, and lower maintenance costs.

What sets MAFELEC TEAM apart from the competition?
We deliver not just a lighting product, but a solution that is customized, intelligent, robust, and future-ready. With over 30,000 M-LIGHT units delivered in the last three years alone and multiple custom front light systems, we are among the industry leaders. Our systems are certified, modular, maintenance-friendly, and quick to integrate.

MAFELEC TEAM – Your partner for smart front lighting.
Innovative. Globally connected. For the railway of tomorrow.