Ready for the next level of digitalisation

Wit­hout digi­tal auto­ma­tic cou­pling (DAC) there is no digi­ta­li­sa­ti­on and wit­hout digi­ta­li­sa­ti­on there is no com­pe­ti­ti­ve­ness. This is how the moder­ni­sa­ti­on of the rail freight sec­tor could be descri­bed. Howe­ver, it’s not quite that simp­le. Here is an over­view of the sta­tus quo and the next steps to be taken.

This is what it’s all about:

• Com­bi­ning hard­ware and soft­ware in a tar­ge­ted manner
• Finan­cing must pro­vi­de the initi­al spark
• «Manage­ment Deploy­ment DAK-CH» coor­di­na­tes the migration
• Test phase: Switz­er­land at the forefront

Combining hardware and software in a targeted manner

The DAK gets the com­pre­hen­si­ve digi­ta­li­sa­ti­on of the rail­way rol­ling. This is becau­se it offers more than just fully auto­ma­tic cou­pling or various track­ing func­tions for indi­vi­du­al wagons. It enables a leap for­ward in Swiss rail freight trans­port by sup­p­ly­ing power and data to the enti­re train. But that’s not all. Data eco­sys­tems are also requi­red for digi­tal­ly inspi­red busi­ness models in rail freight trans­port. The state mobi­li­ty data infra­struc­tu­re «MODI» is set­ting a good exam­p­le here (see blog post «Data eco­sys­tems: Sha­ring data to dou­ble its added value»). In order to com­bi­ne hard­ware and soft­ware in such a way that the rail freight sec­tor beco­mes com­pe­ti­ti­ve in mul­ti­mo­dal logi­stics, high initi­al invest­ments are requi­red. Pri­va­te com­pa­nies in the freight trans­port sec­tor will not be able to bear this alone.

Funding must provide the initial impetus

In Switz­er­land, the Fede­ral Coun­cil adopts its dis­patch on freight trans­port in Janu­ary 2024 and for­wards it to Par­lia­ment. A cen­tral com­po­nent of this bill is the fun­ding for migra­ti­on to the DAK. The Fede­ral Coun­cil envi­sa­ges a fun­ding con­tri­bu­ti­on of CHF 180 mil­li­on. The cal­cu­la­ted invest­ment volu­me for nati­on­wi­de DAC migra­ti­on in Switz­er­land amounts to CHF 500 mil­li­on. We at the VAP are taking a lea­ding role in the plan­ning of finan­cial resour­ces. The fede­ral govern­ment wants to finan­ce the MODI data eco­sys­tem for the first 10 years and then char­ge user fees. The Euro­pean Union (EU) has also yet to fund DAC migra­ti­on. The EU Com­mis­si­on intends to pro­vi­de around EUR 200 mil­li­on for the plan­ned field tests from 2026.

«Management Deployment DAK-CH» coordinates the migration

The cross-indus­try com­mit­tee «Manage­ment Deploy­ment DAK-CH» will be respon­si­ble for coor­di­na­ting the migra­ti­on imple­men­ta­ti­on in Switz­er­land. Among other things, this com­mit­tee is respon­si­ble for the acti­ve exch­an­ge with Europe’s Rail, the plan­ning of work­shop capa­ci­ties, the mate­ri­al dis­po­si­ti­on and the veri­fi­ca­ti­on of the con­ver­si­ons. It must sche­du­le the con­ver­si­on of the vehic­les in advan­ce tog­e­ther with the kee­pers, as well as with the rail­way com­pa­nies and other logi­stics play­ers. In the mean­ti­me, the rail freight com­pa­nies should deter­mi­ne their requi­re­ments for con­ver­ted wagons accor­ding to the volu­me of traffic.

Test phase: Switzerland at the forefront

The func­tions and pro­ces­ses of the DAK must be har­mo­nis­ed throug­hout Euro­pe. One mile­stone is the defi­ni­ti­on of the «Star­ter Packa­ge». This defi­nes which func­tions the DAK migra­ti­on will start with in Euro­pe. Switz­er­land is curr­ent­ly actively invol­ved in ope­ra­tio­nal tests of new sys­tems and is con­tri­bu­ting pio­nee­ring results to the Euro­pean working groups. Here is an over­view of the cur­rent tests and pro­jects with Swiss participation:

• The EU is having the rail tech­no­lo­gy spe­ci­fi­ca­ti­ons drawn up for the imple­men­ta­ti­on of the «Gree­ning Freight Traf­fic Packa­ge» of the Euro­pean DAC Deli­very Pro­gram­me (EDDP). Switz­er­land is actively invol­ved here.
• With «Power-Line-Plus», data is sent via the power sup­p­ly lines. The Lucer­ne Uni­ver­si­ty of Appli­ed Sci­en­ces and Arts is con­duc­ting ope­ra­tio­nal tests tog­e­ther with SBB Cargo and pro­vi­ding key insights into data trans­mis­si­on qua­li­ty. From 2024, proof of ope­ra­tio­nal sui­ta­bi­li­ty is to be pro­vi­ded with all the func­tions of the «Star­ter Packa­ge» and trans­mis­si­on via «Power-Line-Plus», making com­mer­cial jour­neys pos­si­ble. The FOT is sup­port­ing this deve­lo­p­ment financially.
• From 2026, exten­si­ve field tests for the ope­ra­tio­nal sui­ta­bi­li­ty and relia­bi­li­ty of the DAK are plan­ned in Euro­pe with around 100 trains. After that, the aim is to migra­te DAK effi­ci­ent­ly, inclu­ding in Switzerland.
• MODI con­sists of two main ele­ments: The Natio­nal Data Net­wor­king Infra­struc­tu­re Mobi­li­ty (NADIM) enables the stan­dar­di­sed exch­an­ge of mobi­li­ty data. The natio­nal geo­da­ta infra­struc­tu­re «Trans­port Net­work CH» can ensu­re a stan­dar­di­sed, digi­tal repre­sen­ta­ti­on of Switzerland’s enti­re trans­port sys­tem. MODI is curr­ent­ly only inten­ded for pas­sen­ger trans­port. Howe­ver, freight trans­port could also bene­fit from this, for exam­p­le through the digi­tal net­wor­king of public aut­ho­ri­ties, trans­port and spa­ti­al plan­ning aut­ho­ri­ties and all stake­hol­ders invol­ved. For this reason, the VAP is in close cont­act with the respon­si­ble offices of the fede­ral admi­nis­tra­ti­on in order to quick­ly inte­gra­te freight trans­port into the project.