What Siscog does

Siscog (legal name SISCOG – Sistemas Cognitivos, S.A.) is a Portuguese software company founded in 1986 that builds AI and Operational Research-based optimization solutions for rail and metro operators. The company's product, the SISCOG Suite, comprises four integrated modules — ONTIME (timetabling), FLEET (vehicle scheduling), RAILNODE (local resource scheduling) and CREWS (crew management) — that together cover the full rail resource-planning workflow. The technical stack rests on proprietary algorithms developed over four decades, implemented primarily in Common Lisp, with more recent additions including CNN-LSTM deep learning models for crew absence prediction and a Virtual Assistant for real-time disruption management. The platform has been recognized with multiple AAAI Innovation Application Awards (1997, 2003, 2012), underscoring the academic pedigree of the underlying research.

The company sells to enterprise customers in the rail and metro segment through long-term, multi-year contracts. Customer logos include national-scale operators such as NS (Netherlands), NSB/VY (Norway), London Underground, and VIA Rail (Canada), with an installed base spanning 7 countries across 2 continents. Approximately 90% of revenue is generated outside Portugal, concentrated in Northern European and North American markets. Pricing is enterprise SaaS-style with multi-year terms; go-to-market is primarily direct sales supplemented by channel partnerships (notably VeeOne in 2026) and EU-funded research collaborations such as RAPID and the MOTIONAL FP1 project, which also serve interoperability and standards-pursuit functions.

In 2025 Siscog was acquired by Modaxo, a transit-technology-focused software platform, and a new CEO (Miguel Velosa Rodrigues) was appointed in October 2025. The company retains Portuguese "SME Leader" and "SME Excellence" certifications and has participated in EU grant programs providing approximately €520K in research funding. Strategically, Siscog now sits within a larger transit-software portfolio that enables cross-sell into peer operators while preserving its Lisbon-based R&D core.

Name

Siscog

Legal name

SISCOG – Sistemas Cognitivos, S.A.

Website

https://siscog.pt

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Siscog is a Lisbon-based software company that develops AI and Operational Research optimization software — the SISCOG Suite (ONTIME, FLEET, RAILNODE, CREWS) — for rail and metro operators across 7 countries in Europe and North America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lisbon

HQ country

Portugal

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses and Subscriptions: Enterprise software licenses for the SISCOG Suite products (ONTIME, FLEET, RAILNODE, CREWS). Solutions available on-premises or in the cloud with multi-year maintenance agreements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Siscog develops and sells the SISCOG Suite, a modular decision-support software platform for rail and metro operators that optimizes timetables, vehicle schedules, local resource schedules, and staff schedules. The four core products — ONTIME, FLEET, RAILNODE, and CREWS — combine Artificial Intelligence and Operational Research techniques to deliver multilevel decision-support across the entire resource scheduling lifecycle, from long-term planning to real-time dispatching and disruption recovery, sold as enterprise software licenses and subscriptions deployable on-premises or in the cloud.

Product overview

SISCOG offers the SISCOG Suite — a modular, integrated software platform for rail and metro resource scheduling and management. The suite consists of four core products: ONTIME (timetable creation and management), FLEET (vehicle scheduling and management), RAILNODE (local resource scheduling in stations, parks, and shunting yards), and CREWS (staff scheduling and management). All four products are built on a combination of Artificial Intelligence and Operational Research techniques, providing management, schedulers, and dispatchers with multilevel decision support (manual, semi-automatic, and automatic modes). The products address the full resource scheduling and management cycle from long-term planning to real-time dispatching, with post-operation analysis and reporting capabilities. Deployment is available on-premises or in the cloud.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ONTIME: Product for creation and management of Timetables - creates and manages optimised timetables, with the creation of services and network allocation over time.
• FLEET
• RAILNODE
• CREWS

Products and services

• ONTIME

Quantifiable outcome

• ROI within 6-12 months
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• VeeOnecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 22 September 2026Partnership with VeeOne for Rail Planning-as-a-Service, training and consultancy services. VeeOne brings expertise complementing the SISCOG Suite with expert services tailored to the rail industry. They will join Siscog at InnoTrans 2026.
• NS (Netherlands Railways)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSiscog participates in FP1 MOTIONAL, Europe's Rail Flagship Project 1, as an affiliated entity invited by NS. The project aims to enhance planning and management of rail services for Europe's goal of making rail the preferred transport mode. NS and Siscog collaborate on the Virtual Assistant for Disruption Management tool based on CREWS.
• NS (Netherlands Railways)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint research with NS on producing cost-effective and robust crew schedules using optimisation and stochastic simulation. Collaboration on mitigation of rail delays using robust crew scheduling.
• JFRailcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with JFRail for a study on optimisation of station staff resourcing at Network Rail's Manchester Piccadilly railway station. CREWS product will support the study to improve productivity and employee engagement.
• Network RailcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStation staff resourcing optimization project at Manchester Piccadilly, serving over 30 million customers per year, related to Northern Powerhouse Rail Plan.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Optibus: Optibus is a cloud-native AI platform for public transit scheduling, crew rostering, and vehicle planning. It directly competes with SISCOG's CREWS and FLEET products, particularly in metro and urban bus transit segments.
• IVU Traffic Technologies: IVU is a German vendor with an integrated suite (IVU.rail, IVU.crew) for rail and public transport planning, timetabling, vehicle scheduling, and crew dispatching. It is one of SISCOG's most direct European competitors with similar enterprise customers.
• GIRO (HASTUS): GIRO's HASTUS suite is an industry-standard for crew scheduling, vehicle blocking, and dispatch in transit agencies worldwide. It directly competes with SISCOG's CREWS and FLEET products in the passenger rail and metro market.
• Trapeze Group (Modaxo/Jacobs): Trapeze provides fixed-route planning, scheduling, and crew management software for transit agencies. Notably, Trapeze is also a Modaxo company, SISCOG's parent, making it a sister business and direct competitor in the same suite.

Broad incumbents

• Cubic Transportation Systems: Cubic is a large incumbent supplier of transit fare collection, traffic management, and transport IT solutions. While broader than SISCOG, it competes in adjacent rail IT and asset management procurements.
• Siemens Mobility: Siemens Mobility is a major rail OEM and IT supplier offering rolling stock, signalling, and rail operating systems. It is a broader incumbent with overlapping capabilities in rail digitalization and optimization.
• Hitachi Rail: Hitachi Rail provides signalling, rolling stock, and digital rail solutions globally. Its broader portfolio overlaps with SISCOG's scheduling and operations offerings in large rail tenders.
• Alstom (including its digital mobility solutions): Alstom is a major rail OEM with asset management and digital mobility offerings. While heavier on hardware, it competes in integrated rail IT procurement programs where SISCOG operates.

Emerging players

• PTV Group (part of Umovity): PTV provides transport planning, traffic simulation, and mobility software. It overlaps with SISCOG in public transport planning and timetable optimization, though it is more focused on road and multimodal planning.
• Nomad Digital: Nomad Digital is a niche provider of passenger connectivity, on-board technology, and passenger information systems for rail operators. It is adjacent to SISCOG's passenger-facing resource scheduling, with potential partnerships in TAP-TSI integrations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/siscogchannel
• Facebookfacebook.com/siscog.page
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/siscog
• Instagraminstagram.com/lifeatsiscog
• Xx.com/SISCOG_86

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Siscog