During the RailFreight Summit 2025, which took place on 8 and 9 April in Gdańsk, Poland, one of the topics discussed was Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC). Michał Litwin, board member at the European Rail Freight Association and director of railway carrier association ZNPK, took the stage together with DAC ambassador Libor Lochman. They talked about the pros and cons of the controversial technology.
Central to the discussion about DAC was the infamous question of its business case. Litwin, as well as some audience members, expressed known concerns about the cost picture. Accountants from Ernst & Young estimated that DAC implementation would cost around 12 to 13 billion euros, but Litwin pointed to other estimates that expenses may reach between 20 and 30 billion euros.
Either way, the struggling rail freight sector cannot carry a multibillion euro burden, because that would sink it even deeper into the depths of uncompetitiveness. But, says Lochman, an all-encompassing implementation of DAC is unrealistic in any case. “We will likely never get to that point, it would be economic suicide to have such high costs”, he says.
Nevertheless, the DAC ambassador believes that there will be companies that can gain something from DAC. “Without a good business case for DAC at a company, it is total economic nonsense to implement it. But that does not mean that there are no companies that will benefit from it. Some will, some won’t.”
The benefits of DAC
In which areas might rail freight companies win out with DAC, then? For one, DAC is a step towards making freight trains more like passenger trains in terms of acceleration, deceleration and braking distances, explains Lochman. That could help get them a better position in acquiring timeslots, for example.
An audience member pointed out that the technology could help bring some flexibility to the market, by making single wagonload (SWL) traffic more attractive. DAC could reduce costs in that segment due to the current high need for shunting. Lochman concurs, saying that it is primarily SWL that competes with rail’s nemesis, the road sector. DAC could get some road freight onto the rails.
Also in the audience, Thorsten Bieker, vice president Bulk Logistics & Site Services at BASF and the winner of the RailFreight Summit Shipper of the Year Award 2025, voiced a similar view on the matter. With DAC, rail capacity would grow and one could drive heavier trains, he commented. In that way, it is also an advantage for block trains, and not only for SWL. “But what kind of DAC we get should be decided by the customer.”
Money, money, money
Despite the advantages that DAC could bring to the table, the concern about money and the tangible benefits of DAC remains. According to Litwin, colleagues from the European DAC Delivery Programme say that all of the costs should be covered by the European Commission. Otherwise, rail freight will price itself out of the market. At the same time, enough money should be left over for improvements such as ERTMS and 740-metre trains. Those will bring more to the sector than DAC, according to Litwin and some voices in the audience.
Lochman looks beyond the EU for financing: national and local public funding should not be discarded. But he also says: without proper infrastructure, DAC will not benefit anyone much. In other words, money will first need to go to the basics, only then can we take the next step.