The testing of Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC) has been going at a much faster pace over the past few months. The latest milestone is the first-ever successful commercial test of a Hybrid DAC run by German local operator Westfälische Landes-Eisenbahn (WLE).
The Hybrid DAC will allow the combination of wagons with DAC and wagons not yet equipped, as DAC4EU explained. In other words, rolling stock would maintain their traditional coupling mechanism and pair it with DAC so that they can accommodate different ways of being connected.
The WLE train ran between Lippstadt and Warstein, in northwestern Germany. Along the line, roughly 30 kilometres long, WLE usually moves construction material as well as beer and also provides single wagonload services. The company has been at the forefront of DAC testing, as it carried out the first commercial tests for traditional DAC last summer.
DAC tests recap
Since the beginning of 2026, the amount of tests announced and launched in the context of DAC escalated. Other than the WLE tests, in cooperation with coupler manufacturer Voith, 2025 also saw DAC tests in Sweden to assess the coupler performance under extreme weather conditions.
This year is the turn of Austria Rail Cargo Group, which is running similar tests to the ones done in Sweden. Large-scale commercial tests are scheduled for 2027, where seven trains will be equipped with the coupler and will run in nine different countries with raw materials or carrying out intermodal services.