The development and deployment of highly reliable real-time systems is an important technical as well as societal concern. Many systems are dependent upon timely and correction function; for example in key automotive components, aircraft components, military equipment, and so on. Based upon some early architectural developments in Automatic Train Control, collaboration has led to further development of the concepts and products for highly reliable real time systems. Arcticus Systems has provided products based upon the concepts for several Swedish system suppliers in various branches. In this paper, the history of these developments is described, the consequences of a missed opportunity to take a leading role in the automotive branch are discussed and potential future directions are presented.