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Sep 10, 2020 at 7:12 PMDB Cargo and five European partners; Rail Cargo from Austria, SBB Cargo from Switzerland, Ermewa from France, GATX Rail Europe, and VTG, form a consortium to test digital automatic couplings. This is a pilot project of the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI), for which the consortium has been awarded the contract.
(Mainz) A consortium led by Deutsche Bahn is now testing the use of the Digital Automatic Coupling (DAK) for freight cars. Six companies from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and France have been awarded a project by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI). The “Pilot Project for the Demonstration, Testing, and Approval of the Digital Automatic Coupling (DAK) for Rail Freight Transport” runs from July 2020 to December 2022.
With the Digital Automatic Coupling, freight cars and their power, data, and compressed air lines are automatically coupled without heavy physical labor. The assembly of freight trains, which is still predominantly done manually with screw couplings, will be significantly more efficient with the DAK and relieve railway employees.
Broadly Supported Consortium
In addition to DB and its subsidiary DB Cargo, five other companies are involved in the consortium: the Swiss and Austrian freight railways SBB Cargo and Rail Cargo Austria, as well as the wagon keepers Ermewa, GATX Rail Europe, and VTG.
Enak Ferlemann, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Minister for Transport and Digital Infrastructure: “The EU-wide introduction of a DAK is not a task that can be addressed solely at the level of the member states – European solutions are required here. In particular, the significant financial challenges cannot be solved by the companies alone. A comprehensive and adequately funded European funding program will be necessary for this. The BMVI will continue to promote the introduction of a DAK and has therefore commissioned the research project ‘DAK-Demonstrator’. We will finance this project over the next two and a half years with about 13 million euros.”
Revolution for Freight Transport
Sabina Jeschke, DB Board Member for Digitalization and Technology: “We are pleased that we can implement this project together with our strong partners in the consortium. When the Digital Automatic Coupling is introduced throughout Europe, it will be a revolution for rail freight transport – and a tremendous relief for employees.”
In the first step, 12 freight and tank cars from DB Cargo and GATX will be equipped with coupling prototypes from four different manufacturers. After that, the first technical tests will begin, which will result in the selection of a coupling type. In the second phase, a demonstrator train consisting of 24 freight cars will be equipped with the selected coupling type and will operate in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and other European countries. The DAK will be tested, among other things, in daily operations at the marshalling yards.
The goal is to prepare the selection of a coupling type for a Europe-wide introduction. The DAK opens the door to comprehensive automation and digitalization of rail freight transport. A coordinated approach in Europe is the basis for a widespread introduction.
Photo: © DB Cargo
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