{"id":392105,"date":"2026-03-23T19:47:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T09:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=70176"},"modified":"2026-03-23T19:47:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T09:47:35","slug":"norway-unveils-plans-for-dac-commercial-tests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=392105","title":{"rendered":"Norway unveils plans for DAC commercial tests"},"content":{"rendered":"

Large-scale commercial tests for Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC) will begin next year all across Europe. For Norway, trains operated by Onrail will be equipped with the couplers and run intermodal services between Oslo and Bergen until 2028.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>The tests announced for Norway by the county\u2019s railway agency Jernbanedirektoratet are part of the wider project known as PioDAC<\/a>, where \u2018pioneer trains\u2019 will run in eight countries. Other than in Norway, pilots for intermodal services with DAC will also take place in Italy. Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Sweden will participate in the tests with the transport of various bulk materials.<\/p>\n

Currently, more preliminary DAC tests are being carried out for. The first ever commercial pilot<\/a> was launched in Germany in the summer of 2025, while in Sweden<\/a> the ability of DAC to work under extreme weather conditions was tried. Currently Austrian Rail Cargo Group<\/a> is testing DAC on different types of wagons and will continue to do so for the whole of 2026.<\/p>\n

The DAC cost problem<\/h2>\n

One of the main points raised by DAC critics is the cost and who will have to bear them. Given the lack of clear guidelines from EU institutions, estimations vary and seem to be increasing each time they are reviewed. Currently, many agree that equipping a unit should cost between 22,000 and 25,000 euros while the total cost of the project is somewhere around 15 billion euros.<\/p>\n