Austrian state-owned rail freight operator Rail Cargo Group (RCG) will deploy autonomous, battery-powered wagons produced by US-based company Intramotev. RCG “will operate Intramotev’s TugVolt railcars in Austria, marking the company’s first regulated use case and first international deployment”, Intramotev said.
This initiative is part of RCG’s SARI project (Self-propelled Autonomous Railcar Integration), aimed at developing wagons that can move independently for first and last-mile deliveries. The expansion into Austria follows a couple other agreements finalised by Intramotev in the United States. “In February, the company began a deployment with Watco in Illinois. Last month, Intramotev announced an agreement with R.J. Corman to deploy TugVolt technology on the 113-mile (182 kilometres) Memphis Line in Kentucky” the company added.
Intramotev and Tugvolt
Tugvolt wagons are equipped with battery-electric propulsion, which means they do not need a locomotive to be moved and can de-couple from other wagons autonomously. These wagons are able to run for 600 miles (965 kilometres) autonomously. No driver or locomotive is needed thanks to the LiDAR and radar technologies installed on the wagon. So far, they have been mostly deployed for the rail transport of bulk cargo. However, thanks to the automatic coupling and de-coupling features, they could be beneficial for single wagonload services in Europe.