DAK partner meeting in Vienna

Last week, around one hundred international project partners from 12 countries met at the ÖBB headquarters in Vienna to discuss the progress and further development of the Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC) and Full Digital Freight Train Operation (FDFTO) as part of the "FP5-TRANS4M-R" project. The meeting marked the mid-term of the project and was followed by over 150 external stakeholders via livestream. Representatives from the European Commission and Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-RAIL) were also present.

Key topics at the "Midterm Plenary"

The technical aspects of the DAC such as functionality, interoperability and reliability in operation as well as the current demonstrator projects for testing, which are crucial for the pre-deployment phase and European authorisation, were discussed. Another topic was the Full Digital Freight Train Operation, which is made possible by the DAC and promises considerable advantages for the efficiency and effectiveness of rail freight logistics in Europe. DAC also makes it possible to integrate further applications for seamless planning, automatic brake testing and train integrity checks.

FP5-TRANS4M-R at a glance

The FP5-TRANS4M-R project aims to make rail freight transport the backbone of a low-emission and efficient logistics chain through new technologies such as the DAK. The project aims to improve cross-border rail freight transport, strengthen its competitiveness and contribute to increasing the share of rail freight transport to 30% by 2030. FP5-TRANS4M-R thus also makes a significant contribution to the implementation of the Green Deal.

22.05.2024