ÖBB says DAC winter tests show robust performance
AUSTRIA: Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC), the planned replacement for Europe’s manual freight-wagon coupling system, has come through winter testing in Austria with positive early results.
ÖBB Rail Cargo Group said on March 6 that a three-week winter test phase had produced positive preliminary results, with the DAC systems tested in temperatures down to -15°C, freezing rain and fresh snow.
The tests used a DAC demonstration freight train operating under real traffic conditions in Austria, not on a closed test track.
ÖBB said the winter programme was intended to assess how the coupling systems performed under weather exposure and in day-to-day operation.
Positive tests do not settle the rollout question
The Austrian trials offer another encouraging test result for DAC, but they do not resolve the harder question of how the system would be deployed across Europe’s existing wagon fleet.
Retrofitting wagons, ensuring interoperability across suppliers and securing funding for large-scale migration remain the bigger barriers.