Italian Railways’ subsidiary for freight transport, Mercitalia Rail, will support another two state-owned companies, Rail Cargo Group (Austria) and SBB Cargo (Switzerland), in the development of “smart freight trains”.
This programme will analyse the way in which freight transport digitalisation in Europe can improve this aspect, making it safer and more efficient.
One of the objectives of the project is the automation of manual braking tests to be carried out on each wagon of a new-formed train before its departure on the route. In the future, engineers could install this option on a tablet inside the train driver’s cab.
In May 2017, SBB Cargo and Rail Cargo Group signed a contract with PJ Messtechnik to develop a new system for automated train preparation, a system that includes a combination of GPS sensors and cloud computing.
The sensors installed on the cars send data about location, train route (in kilometres) and speed. At the same time, sensors can improve rolling stock safety and reduce the number of faults by constantly monitoring the condition of components.
In Switzerland, SBB Cargo carried out such tests on a train in August 2017. In Austria, tests began last April.
The operators involved in the project say that by testing these new systems on cross-border routes, they hope to accelerate the approval of procedures across Europe.
Mercitalia Rail is now joining the cross-border testing project.
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