It was presented today in Rho, on the occasion of theRailway Expo, in the external exhibition area of the Milan Fair, a wagon equipped with the Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC) technological system for the automatic coupling of freight wagons.
A project carried out in collaboration with Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking, the European partnership for research and innovation in the rail sector, and Dellner, the company providing the technology.
The event was attended by Carla Alessi, Director General for Transport and Railway Infrastructure of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, Giorgio Travaini, Executive Director Europe's Rail, Sabrina De Filippis, CEO and General Manager FS Logistix, Maria Antonietta Zocco, Head of Technical Management Mercitalia Intermodal.
The DAC system replaces the current screw coupling with buffers – which requires manual intervention – with a completely autonomous one, which allows the wagons to be coupled and uncoupled. without human presence and, at the same time, ensures the connection of mechanical, pneumatic, electrical and digital systems in one fast and safe mode.
The adoption of this technology means less risk for shunting personnel (who currently have to physically access between wagons to connect pipes or operate the connecting screw) and greater maneuvering speed in shunting yards. As a result, there are lower operating costs, less downtime, better utilization of wagons and locomotives. Not to mention the possibility of real-time monitoring, immediate diagnostics of faults and malfunctions and the so-called "predictive maintenance".
With the current screw coupling, in fact, the wagons do not transmit data, they have no connected sensors on board, therefore maintenance is at fixed intervals or when a fault occurs. With the DAC, however, thanks to the electrical/data connection, each wagon can become a "connected node" of a digital train: the sensors on board the wagon (on the brakes, axles, doors, shock absorbers, bearing temperature, load) can send information in real time, data is collected via the train and transmitted to a central station, algorithms analyze the trends and estimate when a component will start to degrade (i.e. before it actually breaks).
Brake wear, axle bearings, shock absorbers, and suspension are constantly monitored. In essence, the DAC system ensures the integrity of every critical component of the train in real time, and each carriage boasts a “digital history” with archivable usage data on which strategies can be developed or simulations based.
“We are the first in Italy to support the DAC digital system which allows for a significant technological upgrade of the wagons for the management of freight trains” – declared Sabrina De Filippis, CEO and General Manager of FS Logistix. “A European experimentation which travels in parallel with the investments in progress which, as FS GroupWe are doing this to contribute to the evolution of global logistics. The DAC must become a priority for the entire sector, supported by Italian and European institutions, because it further improves safety standards and is one of the enabling factors for the qualitative revival of freight mobility from a multimodal perspective.
"L 'Italy, thanks to the contribution of FS Logistix with its European partners, carries out a fundamental role "This demonstration, and the research work conducted within Europe's Rail, is an integral part of the European strategy for more integrated, connected, and competitive rail logistics, benefiting businesses and citizens alike."
It should be added that trains equipped with the DAC gain in load capacity and length, allowing for minimizing times and costs in the operational phases of rail freight flow while simultaneously ensuring benefits in terms of optimizing the capacity of the railway infrastructure.
FS Logistix, through its companies Mercitalia Intermodal, Mercitalia Rail and Mercitalia Shunting & Terminal, is actively involved in Europe's Rail (of which it is a founding member) for the testing of DAC through the TRANS4M-R and DACtiVate projects. Projects that foresee the first demo train in Italy, carried out by FS Logistix. The aim is to accelerate the development of innovative technologies and solutions for operational efficiency in the logistics sector, contributing to the achievement of the broader and more ambitious strategic objectives for sustainable mobility set by the European Union.
