Polo Logistica increasing "smart" freight cars thanks to the Smart Train project

The Logistics Hub of the FS Group continues its plan to implement the fleet of "intelligent" freight cars that travel daily on the Italian and European railway network.

 

Thanks to Mercitalia Intermodal's Smart Train project, in 2024 another 180 wagons will be equipped by PJM with sensors and modern communication technologies that collect millions of data during train operation. This information helps monitor numerous train parameters in real time and is used for predictive maintenance, improving efficiency and safety.

 

The Logistics Hub company has studied and developed on-board solutions installed on its cars which, thanks to wireless communication systems, can communicate with machine and ground personnel, thus enabling the automation of various processes and optimizing operations connected to railway circulation.

 

Thanks to the WagonTracker system from PJM, an Austrian company specializing in digitized and automated rail freight transport, greater connectivity is guaranteed through systems that send real-time data such as kilometers traveled, geolocation of vehicles, and allow, for example, monitoring of the braking system, the trailer anchoring saddle to the car, and load conditions.

 

The Smart Train project allows for faster delivery times thanks to automated processes, enabling predictive maintenance logic and maintenance models based on the actual condition of the vehicles. This makes it possible to reduce costs while increasing the life cycle of the cars, the efficiency and safety of rail freight transport, with consequent savings in economic costs and greater protection of environmental sustainability. Concrete benefits that make the level of sustainability of freight transport by train even clearer.

 

Mercitalia Intermodal began updating its fleet as early as 2017, and today more than a third of freight cars are "intelligent." The Italian intermodal operator has pioneered digital monitoring functions and automated processes, systematically implementing the fleet transformation.

 

The Logistics Hub is constantly committed to adopting cutting-edge technologies to significantly reduce the environmental impact of logistics operations while ensuring high-quality service. The FS Group's industrial plan includes investments dedicated to digitization, also thanks to innovative projects such as Smart Train, in line with European Union research programs that promise a digital revolution in European rail freight transport.

 

"The smart train is one of the projects that will allow Mercitalia Logistics to become a European logistics player," declared Maria Antonietta Zocco, Technical Director of Mercitalia Intermodal. "By leveraging freight cars, we can offer safer, faster, and more efficient services to our customers. Our intelligent car is an enabler for the automation of railway processes and for predictive and on-condition maintenance. Continuous monitoring of driving dynamics, the status of critical components, wear, and other factors can lead to significant savings in productivity, maintenance, and railway safety, which is a fundamental requirement for us."

 

For Günter Petschnig, CEO of PJ Monitoring GmbH, one thing is clear: "Highly innovative companies like Mercitalia Intermodal are driving development and making a very important contribution to rail transport and society. Modern and digital rail transport is the key to achieving the EU's important climate goals. Streamlined and automated processes such as brake testing make transport competitive, faster, and safer and transport more goods by rail, an environmentally friendly mode."