The Digital Automatic Coupler for freight trains (DAK) is gaining momentum. A multi-month field test on lines and marshalling yards across Europe has been successfully completed. The consortium carrying out the project includes DB, DB Cargo, and SBB Cargo.
The manufacturers of the new coupling are now entering the next development phase. Over the next few months, the new standard for freight trains is expected to reach series production readiness. The Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs (BMDV) is providing an additional seven million euros for a further testing phase. The manufacturers and the Europe-wide consortium are working closely together on this.
The DAK (Digital Automatic Coupling) enables what is currently done manually: DB Cargo alone has to perform up to 70,000 coupling operations per day across Europe, all by strenuous manual labor, to assemble trains. With the DAK, wagons can be connected in fractions of a second, including brake and digital control lines. This means that, for the first time, freight wagons are equipped with continuous power and data lines.
The Europe-wide introduction, it was stated at a demonstration for Members of the European Parliament, is "the decisive lever for making rail more competitive with road transport and achieving European climate targets." Over the past 18 months, the test train, consisting of 18 wagons and 40 prototype couplings, has covered a total of 10,000 km in seven European countries. During this time, it visited 25 different marshalling yards and tested its operation in lowland areas, in the Alps, and under extreme weather conditions ranging from minus 25 to plus 40 degrees Celsius.
The DAC4EU consortium includes Deutsche Bahn (DB), its subsidiary DB Cargo, the Swiss and Austrian freight railways SBB Cargo and Rail Cargo Austria, as well as the wagon owners Ermewa, GATX Rail Europe, and VTG.
