SNCF, Shift2Rail introduce digital brake testing on freight trains 26/10/18

September 2018

SNCF, Shift2Rail and Traxens revealed a digital brake testing system for freight trains, which is the first step towards a fully digital freight train. The project received certification from the French railway safety authority last week. Shift2Rail, SNCF Fret and DB Cargo will test interoperability of the system in 2019. Currently, 145 trains are retrofitted with the new technology.

There are three main advantages of digital brake testing:

1. It is twice as fast as conventional brake testing.
2. The digital test also makes the procedure much safer, as the train driver no longer has to carry out the arduous task, which requires actual strength
3. It is a flexible system. It works on all kinds of trains and for different kinds of purposes.

Shift2Rail, SNCF Fret and DB Cargo have agreed to set up a pilot project on cross-border traffic. In this way, they want to test the interoperability of different technologies, as part of a standardisation scheme. This pilot is planned for 2019.

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