For more than a hundred years, screw couplings that have to be operated by people have been used almost exclusively in rail freight transport. That should change with the Digital Automatic Coupling (DAK). Since this week, the first freight train with the DAC has been on the road for several months in Germany and neighboring countries on a test basis.
So far, railway employees have had to place a 20 kg bracket on the hook of the next car to connect them to each other. The clutch is then tightened by turning a screw thread behind the shackle. A DAC does this automatically, without manual work it creates a mechanical connection between the cars and couples the air line for the brakes. The DAC enables a stable power supply and data lines for the freight wagons and creates the conditions for further automation such as the brake test, explains Deutsche Bahn.
The DAC would make faster, automated shunting processes possible. As a result, the capacity of transshipment stations can be significantly increased, according to a statement from the railway company. With the new coupling technology, freight trains can become longer and heavier and move at higher speeds than before. As a result, they could “swim along” better in rail traffic, and the capacity of the rail network would be increased.
Five million freight cars
According to DB Cargo, it handles more than five million freight wagons at the marshalling yards every year. To do this, freight trains are broken up into individual wagons and reassembled into new trains. Employees not only connect and disconnect couplings by hand, they also check the brakes and the condition of the cars. On average, they walk around 7.5 km in each shift.
On the test field for digitization at the Munich-North marshalling yard, Deutsche Bahn is testing automated freight car diagnostics with artificial intelligence. To do this, the wagons pass through a camera bridge that takes pictures of the individual wagons from all sides. Normally, employees on each axle check whether the brake pads are actually in contact and whether they are loosening again. Depending on the length of the freight train, this patrol can take up to 50 minutes. That’s around 1.2 million brake tests per year. In the future, this should be done remotely and faster, with sensors in the freight wagon checking the function of the brakes and transmitting the result digitally.
13 million euros
A shunting locomotive is also being tested, which is a shunting and shifting locomotive that assembles freight cars into freight trains. In the future, DB Cargo wants to equip the locomotives with sensor technology that monitors the tracks and the surrounding area, as well as with command and control technology.
The research project for testing the DAC is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport with around 13 million euros. Various prototypes of a DAC are being tested across Germany, and five other companies are involved in addition to DB Cargo.
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