Quiet, energy-efficient and economical rail transportation is the way forward! This is the aim of the research project supported by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure entitled “The Development and Testing of Innovative Freight Wagons”, on which VTG AG and DB Cargo AG are working collaboratively on the freight cars of the future. The four wagon types that have been developed as part of this project are on display at InnoTrans in Berlin until September 21. German transport minister Andreas Scheuer visited the wagons at InnoTrans at the opening of the fair to see for himself the progress of the project: “The high-tech wagons demonstrate the huge potential of rail freight transportation. The digital innovations and the latest noise reduction technologies that are being trialed within the context of this project will contribute to ensuring freight transport is quieter, more energy-efficient and more cost-effective. These measures make rail more competitive against other modes of transport and fit for the future at the same time.”
“The project findings to date are very promising”, says Sven Wellbrock, Managing Director of VTG Rail Europe GmbH. “We are confident that these innovative freight wagons will allow us to excel and take this mode of transportation to the next level. We are therefore delighted to present the wagons to the public here at InnoTrans for the first time.
Steffen Bobsien, Senior Vice President of European Asset Management and Technology at DB Cargo AG explains: “The innovative freight wagons have the potential to increase competitiveness considerably. The project demonstrates that, even in a price-sensitive environment, innovations can certainly advance rail transportation providing everyone is moving in the same direction.”
About the “Innovative Freight Wagons” Project
Within the context of a research project entitled “The Development and Testing of Innovative Freight Wagons”, a DB Cargo AG and VTG AG working group has re-developed and produced twelve prototypes consisting of four different wagon types, including three VTG container cars and tank cars along with three DB Cargo AG BraCoil wagons (for slabs and coils) and car-transporter wagons. The project was launched in October 2016 and will run until December 2018. Practical and operational testing is currently underway. The wagons have already covered a distance of 75,000 km and this distance is set to double by the end of the year. The Federal Ministry of Transport is contributing a total of 18 million euros to the project. DB Cargo and VTG are themselves shouldering all procurement costs for the innovative freight wagons and components – more than six million euros in all.
The “Innovative Freight Wagons” Project at InnoTrans:
City Cube A Stand 203
Outdoor area platform 11, stands 415-417 and platform 8, stand 410
More information can be found at www.innovativer-gueterwagen.de.