DB Cargo is turning the marshalling yard München-Nord into Germany’s first digital goods yard. The goal is to make the preparation of trains largely automatic. This should increase the yard’s capacity by up to 40 percent. Allowing marshalling yards to increase the number of trains they can process in a given time frame is central to shifting more freight on to rail. DB Cargo says it wants to replace 30 million lorries by 2030, which would equate to a carbon saving of 10 million tons.
Germany’s ministry of transport (BMVI) is supporting the project with more than 14.5 million euros as part of the ‘Future Rail Freight’ programme. DB Cargo is investing around 12 million euros on top of that Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer said: “Steel couplers are currently connected manually and brakes and vehicles are inspected and shunted manually, but in the future this will be done automatically for us by intelligent digital technology. Our support for the marshalling yard in Munich is critical. We’re accelerating and improving processes. Freight trains will be marshalled in a more efficient, speedy and cost-effective manner in the future. We’re serious about getting more freight on to rail.”
DB Cargo will now gradually take the Munich test site into operation along with its partners from industry and business.
Automatic Freight Car Diagnosis with AI
Currently, employees examine trains locally on the tracks, in every weather. To do that they have to walk the length of the train, which can take more than an hour, depending on its length. They check for damage, holes or bent components. They enter their findings in a tablet and also note them manually on the freight car.