Rail freight needs to become more reliable and flexible to gain more markets shares. Technology can help to automate processes and develop more accurate monitoring. Brakes have a key role to play there. This will work if intelligent brakes are part of an open standardised architecture of the digital freight train. This should be the case for qualification of sensors, safe integration into existing or new systems, radio transmission and data exchange. Those topics are also considered in WP7 of the european DAC delivery programme. The potential of electropneumatic brake for rail freight and rail system as a whole as well as the need for an parking brake for the remote uncoupling function of automatic coupling are beoing considered in the WP7 with industry, wagon keepers and rail freight companies.

Mr. Bertrand Minary, Fret SNCF, FRANCE