Organized by the Logistics Business Unit of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A and the Wabtec Corporation, the “Digital Automatic Coupling: the chance to revolutionize European rail freight transport” seminar was held on October 4th, 2023, within the 11th edition of Expo Ferroviaria 2023, Italy's International Exhibition of Railway Technology, Products and Systems.

Introduced by Giorgio Travaini, Executive Director a.i. of the Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking Partnership of the Horizon Europe Programme (Europe’s Rail), the seminar speakers Mark Topal-Göckeli (European DAC Delivery Program Manager), Cyril Guyon (UIP - Deputy General Manager at Ermewa SA), Roberto Tione (Innovation and Technology Vice President of Wabtec), Riccardo Santoro (Europe’s Rail Coordination Manager, FSI), Luc Imbert and Cesar Augusto Mendoza (members of the Europe’s Rail TRANS4M-R flagship project) addressed an audience composed of representatives of rail infrastructure managers, freight and logistics operators, wagon keepers, industrial and institutional stakeholders.

The seminar underlined the need for acceleration of the transformation of the intermodal freight rail system as whole to meet European Green Deal objectives. It presented the the Digital automatic coupling as critical enabler towards the realization of the modern and digital European seamless cross-border intermodal railway logistics system currently being developed in the TRANS4M-R flagship project of the Europe’s Rail program. It further described the close relationship of the EDDP and the Europe’s Rail Governance structures which provide the effective open and close cooperation between railway undertakings, infrastructure managers, wagon keepers, rail supply industry and European Institutions needed for the rapid achievement of deployable standard technologies and operational procedures, anticipating and overcoming adoption and migration issues and impacts that were also presented during the seminar.

(Photos and videos are a courtesy of FSI)