As a result, the capacity of the marshalling yard will increase by up to 40 percent. Freight trains will be able to depart faster, more flexibly and more frequently in future. These are crucial prerequisites for more freight on the rails: DB Cargo wants to replace 30 million trucks by 2030 and thus save 10 million tons of_CO2. The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) is funding the project with more than 14.5 million euros in the federal program "Future Rail Freight Transport". DB Cargo is investing an additional 12 million euros.

Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer: "Where today steel couplings are still connected by hand, brakes and vehicles checked and laboriously shunted, tomorrow intelligent digital technology will do it automatically for us. Our funding for the Munich marshalling yard is groundbreaking. We are speeding up and improving processes. Freight trains can be put together more efficiently, faster and more cost-effectively in future. Because we are serious: more freight on the rails."

DB Board Member for Freight Transport Dr. Sigrid Nikutta: "Digitalization is now providing even more power for green rail. DB Cargo has long offered live tracking and online shopping for transports. I am delighted that we are now taking train handling to a whole new level with the launch of the digital marshalling yard. This will strengthen single wagonload transport as the backbone of the economy and the competitiveness of rail as a whole."

DB Cargo is now gradually putting the digital test field in Munich into operation together with partners from industry and science. The innovations will benefit customers and employees alike: through greater flexibility, faster and more efficient processes and less physically demanding work.

From this summer, freight trains will pass through a camera bridge that automatically records and reports the condition of the wagons using artificial intelligence (AI). DB Cargo and the project partners are testing sensors on freight wagons that enable the brake test required before each departure to be carried out more quickly and digitally from a distance. In addition, a prototype shunting locomotive ready for approval is being developed and tested, which uses innovative sensor technology to separate freight trains into individual wagons completely automatically. The Digital Automatic Coupling (DAK) is also to be tested in Munich in the future. The project of the century aims to equip almost 500,000 freight wagons throughout Europe with standardized digital coupling technology. The "DAC4EU" research project, which is being funded by the BMVI with around 13 million euros, is currently underway and is testing DAK types throughout Germany.