With the addition of DB Cargo, SNCF and KLM/Air France, the programme of the Intelligent Rail Summit 2019 has been completed. During the rail conference that takes place from 19 to 21 November at the UIC headquarters in Paris, various experts will share their views on Automatic Train Operation (ATO) and the Digital Railway.

Earlier it was announced that experts from Shift2Rail, CER, TU Delft, Russian Railways, Infrabel and Banedanmark will speak at the international conference. Now speakers from DB Cargo, SNCF and KLM/Air France have also been added to the programme. In addition, Simon Fletcher, director of Standardisation and Coordinator Europe at UIC, will chair the conference programme on 21 November.

Intelligent wagons

Gerrit Koch to Krax, Asset Intelligence Wagons leader at DB Cargo, is responsible for the digitalisation of freight wagons. DB Cargo completed the installation of intelligent sensors and GPS on 34,000 freight wagons in August of this year in Seelze, Germany. The entire fleet of 68,000 railcars can be traced digitally in 2020.

The railcars will be equipped with a module that can be used to collect data about the wagons via GPS (Global Positioning System), RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and NFC (Near Field Communication). This provides DB customers information about the location of the rail cars, the temperature, humidity and movement of delicate goods.

Text continues under photo. The entire fleet of 68,000 wagons can be followed digitally in 2020.

ATO technology SNCF

Luc Laroche, director Autonomous Train at SNCF, will speak about the latest developments in the field of Automatic Train Operation (ATO) in France. The rail operator is working to further develop the ATO technology up to Grade of Automation level 4 (GoA4). At the conference, Laroche will share SNCF’s vision on the ATO business model. He will also inform the audience about the recent test with an autonomous train without a train driver.

David Vazquez from KLM/Air France will give his vision from an airline company’s perspective on how big data and analysis can improve predictive maintenance. After acquiring sensor data from several aircrafts, KLM/Air France successfully applied results in predictive maintenance. Vazquez will share the organisational challenges this entailed.

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The Intelligent Rail Summit 2019 will take place on 19, 20 and 21 November at the UIC headquarters in Paris. During the rail conference, various experts can share knowledge in the field of Automatic Train Operation (ATO) and the Digital Railway. More information can be found on the event website.