{"id":146068,"date":"2024-11-01T19:30:17","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T09:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=57569"},"modified":"2024-11-01T19:30:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T09:30:17","slug":"dutch-government-and-rail-freight-sector-do-not-see-eye-to-eye-on-dac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=146068","title":{"rendered":"Dutch government and rail freight sector do not see eye to eye on DAC"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dutch state secretary for infrastructure, Chris Jansen, recently attended a Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC) demonstration with his German counterpart. Jansen sees potential in the new tech, and now wants European pilot trains to test its practical implementation. Dutch officials seem eager to develop DAC further, but market parties are certain that it will backfire.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>\u201cIt’s an exciting new technology with great potential to make rail freight transport more efficient and future-proof\u201d, state secretary Jansen stated after the DAC demonstration. \u201cOne of the first steps is developing more demonstrator trains for operational testing. These pilot projects will provide important information for how DAC can be rolled out in the future. After the pilots we\u2019ll talk with our European partners about the next steps. Because rail freight transport doesn\u2019t stop at the border.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those pilot trains, explains the Dutch infrastructure ministry, are organised on an EU-level and are eligible for Connecting Europe Facility-financing. That is exactly the approach that the ministry has in mind for the technology: \u201cDAC could contribute to more efficient and competitive rail freight in the long term, but there is a lot needed before the technology reaches that point, also in connection with its implementation. For that reason, we are expecting a leading role from the EU, and the Netherlands facilitates this where possible, such as at DAC tests in practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Image: \u00a9 RCG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rail freight sector sees no benefits and lots of costs<\/h2>\n

The Dutch official curiosity towards DAC is evident. What is no less evident, is the opposing viewpoint taken up by market parties: Those by and large speak out against DAC as a viable new technology.<\/p>\n

Hans-Willem Vroon, director of rail freight branch association RailGood, says that there is no business case for DAC. A Europe-wide implementation of the system would require 15 billion euros, and that is without locomotive retrofitting. It would make cost-ridden rail freight more expensive at a time when expenses are the sector\u2019s major obstacle. On top of that, DAC is a very sensitive system, which makes rail freight unreliable, says Vroon.<\/p>\n