GERMANY: A total of 34 000 wagons, or half of DB Cargo’s fleet, have now been equipped with telematics and smart sensors, the operator announced on August 27.
All 68 000 wagons are scheduled to be equipped by 2020. The retrofitting programme is being carried out at Seelze near Hannover in a project worth ‘a high seven-figure sum.’
Each wagon is being fitted with a telematics module, with GPS and RFID and NFC tags. They can then use mobile telephony to transmit signals during the journey, such as when they start moving, stop or detect an impact.
This data can help to provide information about the load’s condition, temperature and humidity, as well as the movement of sensitive cargo.
‘The smart freight wagons are modernising rail freight transport and making it fit for the future’, said Marek Staszek, management board member for Production. ‘Our customers are benefiting from more manageable logistics chains, higher-quality transport and predictable arrival times. With these advantages, we want to achieve a lasting shift in traffic onto the environmentally friendly rail freight network’.
