DAC Hands-on for safety and authorisation experts in the Train Test Lab

Experts from the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), several National Safety Authorities and the FP5-TRANS4M-R project met in the project’s Train Test Lab in Berlin to experience the Digital Automatic Coupling technology in real life and to continue the exchange on authorisation of vehicles equipped with the technology.

The Train Test Lab of the Europe’s Rail funded Flagship Project FP5-TRANS4M-R was the meeting point for the 8^th meeting of the ERA working group for the authorisation of vehicles building the pioneer DAC trains. About 35 participants from ERA, NSAs, the project itself and representatives from the associations of the Group of Representative Bodies (GRB) met to “get in touch” with the technology. The Train Test Lab is the place where new components are installed and can be tested in a closed environment. It was therefore the ideal place to showcase the technological progress of Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC) and Full Digital Freight Train Operations (FDFTO).

“We have established the Train Test Lab in our project as our main test site in the first place. But at the same time, it allows everyone to experience the technology hands-on and gain a lot of insights.”

Daniel Wolfram, Lead FP5-TRANS4M-R Train Test Lab

ERA and NSA experts experiencing DAC technology in the Train Test Lab of FP5-TRANS4M-R in Berlin-Spandau (Photo: Deutsche Bahn AG/Michael Sünder)

The ERA working group has been established in April 2024 and aims to provide guidance on the requirements for the potential applicants of the freight wagons and locomotives as defined in the art. 13 of the Regulation (EU) 2018/545 on one hand. On the other hand it intends to provide guidance for the NSAs in their supervision role of the pioneer DAC trains.

After the hands-on session in the morning in the Train Test Lab with a guided tour by its lead Daniel Wolfram, the working group seized the opportunity to deepen the direct exchange between experts from the FP5-TRANS4M-R project and the authorisation bodies in the afternoon. An updated draft of an ERA guidance document was presented as well as a template for the supervision after the authorisation for further discussion. Project experts presented their approach and the results of the safety assessment on train level and a harmonised risk architecture.

After the constructive meeting in Spandau the ERA working group lead is looking forward to the next meetings:

“All participants will continue to progress towards the common objectives in the future meetings of the working group: laying the foundation for authorization of vehicles fitted with DAC in Europe once the good work that we have seen in the Test lab is complete and fully developed, industrially available technical solutions are available.”
Oscar Martos, European Union Agency for Railways, Lead ERA working group for the authorisation of pioneer DAC trains