“Today, many essential safety procedures, such as brake tests, train composition checks and axle health monitoring, are still performed manually. Often under difficult conditions — at night, in bad weather — and they are both time-consuming and safety-critical,” explains Antoine Belleguie, innovation project manager at Rail Logistics Europe.

The freight branch of French state operator SNCF (Rail Logistics Europe) is leading the MONITOR project, a collaborative effort launched in 2023 with partners Wabtec and Régie des Transports Métropolitains (RTM) and funded by the French State as part of the France 2030 programme operated by ADEME. Their shared objective is to design, develop and demonstrate a digital monitoring system that can turn traditional manual processes into fast, reliable, data-driven operations. “Our objective is to design, develop and demonstrate a digital monitoring system that transforms traditional manual processes into fast, reliable and data-driven operations.”

MONITOR will equip freight wagons with onboard sensors connected via wired links to control units on each wagon. The main control unit then communicates wirelessly with a central Line Control Unit (LCU) – the brain of the system – which in turn interfaces with the driver through a dedicated human-machine interface. This architecture transforms raw sensor signals into real-time insight into wagon health and train performance.

From one hour to a few minutes

One of the most time-consuming tasks in freight rail is the pre-departure brake test, which currently takes 45–60 minutes for an 850-metre train. With MONITOR, this procedure — traditionally requiring two operators and a full walk along the train — will be digitalised and carried out by the driver alone. Automation is expected to cut the duration of the brake test to just a few minutes, while providing a more robust confirmation of braking performance. “The system sends results directly to the driver’s tablet” Belleguie says. “This is not only a major timesaving, but also a safety gain, as the driver no longer needs to walk along the entire train to perform visual inspections.”

This faster train preparation reduces delays and improves network efficiency and is just one of the many benefits. It’s also another step towards predictive maintenance, detecting brakes, axles and vibration, continuously, to detect issues before they cause failures. At the same time, the system promises to lower costs, mainly by reducing emergency interventions and infrastructure damage. Safety is also set to improve, since ground staff are less exposed to harsh conditions. Lastly, the system cuts energy consumption and extends component lifetimes, leading to environmental gains. “The value is holistic — MONITOR is a transformation tool, not just a set of sensors,” Belleguie emphasises.

Real-world testing in 2026

MONITOR technology will be tested in 2026 on a limited number of wagons in real-world conditions in France. These pilots’ deployments will assess the sensors’ robustness in real operations, as well as communication performance between wagons. If successful, the technology could then scale across Europe, supporting the shift toward smarter, more competitive freight rail.

MONITOR is just the first step toward a fully digitised freight wagon. “Once brake tests, axle condition monitoring, and intra-train communication are digitised, the path opens for richer functionalities: Predictive maintenance, continuous train integrity verification, or even advanced operational automation” Belleguie sums up.

The project complements initiatives like Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC), which modernises the physical connection between wagons. DAC provides automatic coupling, a power supply and a digital backbone for data exchange. MONITOR brings real-time wagon intelligence. Together, they could reshape European freight rail, making it safer, more efficient, and more competitive.

Robot inspectors

On the other side of China, in the north, robots are making their debut in the world of Chinese rail freight. They help in wagon inspections, with a success rate of 100% for “common faults”.

The robots are not replacing manual labour entirely, however. For now, the system combines robot inspections with manual verification and cloud-based diagnostics. It primarily helps in reducing human error and labour intensity. Over a 24-hour period, the robots can speed up wagon inspections by 30 minutes for 108 wagons. Robot systems are also already in use for high-speed passenger rolling stock, according to Chinese media.

The Hungarian Logistics Service Providers Association (MLSZKSZ) says that the primary reasons for the financial downturn include higher operating costs, wagon inspection costs, track access charges and exchange rate changes for international traffic. Moreover, competition with the road sector forced rail prices down, and track closures made rail freight more difficult during the year.

Intermodal success

The financial underperformance in the rail freight industry is starkly contrasted by developments in the intermodal sector. “Traffic arriving and departing at Hungarian intermodal terminals increased by 122% compared to 2023 (853 thousand TEU), an outstanding performance amid stagnation in Europe”, MLSZKSZ writes. “This growth allowed Hungary to act as a collection-distribution hub for the first time in the European intermodal transport network.”

Intermodal traffic recorded improvements along a number of indicators. For example, the number of loaded containers grew by 33.8%, and semi-trailer rail traffic increased by 21.3%. Moreover, there was a decline in empty containers of 3.4%, which “indicates the strengthening of domestic exports and the revival of international traffic to neighboring countries”, says MLSZKSZ.

What’s behind the growth?

A number of key factors have driven the success of Hungarian intermodal traffic. MLSZKSZ mentions deliveries related to factory constructions, new connections to Serbia and Romania, a modal shift induced by the Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme and the opening of new rural terminals as contributing factors.

Despite the divergence in performance between rail freight and intermodal, both suffered from infrastructure disruptions. Those include key projects like the Budapest – Belgrade line and upgrades around Budapest.

“The biggest task facing Hungarian rail and intermodal transport is restoring competitiveness and addressing infrastructure challenges. MLSZKSZ recommends improving the coordination of railway track construction works, minimizing track closures and using temporary structures during renovations”, commented MLSZKSZ President Zsolt Károly Fülöp.

In the UK, passenger infrastructure faced disruptions, but rail freight kept its wicket intact. Among the major operators, DB Cargo in the UK reported no issues and said their European colleagues were also working as normal.

Moreover, GBRf told RailFreight.com that they were all clear but vigilant for any secondary issues, particularly in third-party systems. Specialist operator DRS/NTS, responsible for transporting everything from nuclear fuel flasks to groceries, said there was no disruption to their services. No other operators reported problems. Freight trains on the UK network appear to be ‘not out’ all around.

Crowdstrike update affects ports

Nevertheless, other infrastructure temporarily experienced problems due to the faulty update. According to Dutch media, parts of the port of Rotterdam ran into issues. Whereas it reported that crucial operations continued as normal, the two important container ship terminals ECT Euromax and ECT Delta were forced to stop operations. These terminals also have rail freight facilities.

Similarly, the Port of Felixstowe and the Baltic hub in Poland experienced problems.

Through monitoring construction progress, the rail association seems to be taking on the role of a watchdog. Even if the Riedbahn monitor’s homepage says “trust is good, control is better”, it seems that there is no trust in DB InfraGO to prevent harm to the rail freight sector. Die Güterbahnen is living up to the catchphrase by mobilising rail freight operators to collectively keep an eye on DB InfraGO’s work.

The Riedbahn Live Ticker will make information on cancelled trains, timetable changes and other operational issues accessible in real time.

Open communication on Riedbahn progress

“First and foremost, we hope that the closure goes smoothly. But if things go wrong, we want to make sure that the causes are not ignored, but are communicated openly with us and the companies affected,” says Neele Wesseln, managing director of Die Güterbahnen.

“The concept is fragile. Unforeseen incidents could have an impact on supply chains across Germany. The challenges are huge for the companies, who have to cope with additional costs and keep their customers happy. Additional irregularities are pure poison.”

“We want to focus on rail freight transport, which is too often neglected, and provide our members and the public with communication support. Of course, we also hope to build an appropriate database for the next 40 closures from which all parties can learn,” the association says.

Reverse modal shift

The planned renovations, while considered necessary, are a thorn in the side of rail undertakings. DB InfraGO itself acknowledged that diversions are scarce: “Due to the already large number of route allocations on the Ludwigsbahn (via Worms) and Main-Neckar-Bahn (via Darmstadt – Heidelberg), only very few route capacities will be available on the abovementioned routes during the general renovation of the Riedbahn from July 15th to December 14th, 2024.”

While slots are still available on the Moselle route and the non-electrified Alsenztalbahn, the infrastructure manager calls upon rail freight operators who do not need their reserved slots to cancel them early. “This increases the probability of being able to meet expected train path requests within the framework of freight traffic during the year.”

Regardless, Die Güterbahnen earlier expressed its fear that the many planned renovations and scarce diversion routes could cause a reverse modal shift. “Such a reverse modal shift may not be temporary, limited to the duration of construction works. Instead, already struggling rail operators might lose out to the road permanently, as has already been happening in other countries”, the association said in April.

Sweco will now be assisting the Swedish transport administration in planning the construction of the railway, according to a press release by the company. It will be receiving an expected 400 million Swedish crowns (35 million euros) for its efforts.

“We are looking forward to continued trust from the Swedish transport administration and to being an advisor in this large and complicated infrastructure project, which is so important for both travellers and businesses in the fast-growing regions around Uppsala and Stockholm. More goods will be able to be transported in a climate-smart manner, and for travellers the expansion means more punctual trains, more departures and smoother sustainable journeys”, Sweco’s CEO Ann-Louise Lökholm Klasson stated.

Ostkustbanan vital for freight

Most of the East Coast Railway is a single-track line. It runs, as the name suggests, along Sweden’s east coast and is important for both freight and passenger traffic. It is among the busiest single-track railways in Sweden, according to the Swedish parliament, and “is in dire need of expansion”.

The parliament estimates that a double-track along the eastern East Coast Railway will lead to economic benefits of approximately 4 billion euros at the very least. In terms of freight, most of the benefit will come from connecting Sweden’s economically crucial northern provinces with the rest of Sweden and Europe. Notably, they host some of Europe’s largest mines, which are dependent on the railways for transportation.

Among the discussed topics were, for example, disruptive line closures. OPSFPR also laments the absence of the transport ministry and the country’s infrastructure manager in helping rail freight companies limit their financial losses when such closures occur.

Priority system needs to change

Due to the bad state of the country’s infrastructure, trains can “take a week to travel 200 kilometres.” Rail freight operators say that they need to explain to their customers why their services are so slow. The train delays and staffing shortage also compromise traffic and personnel safety, OPSFPR says.

The rail freight operators are asking the government to amend rules on the Romanian network. Primarily, empty passenger trains should not get priority over freight trains, they say. The Romanian state passenger operator currently runs empty trains to get funding from the government. It receives money for kilometres driven, rather than passengers transported.

In particular, the transportation of coal, natural gas and crude oil fell significantly. Poland recorded 16,1 million tonnes of coal being transported on its rail network in Q1 2024, which is 27,7 per cent lower than during the same period of the previous year. Its share of total volumes also fell from 37,1 per cent to 30,5 per cent.

Similarly, the volume of metal ores and other mining products dropped by 4,6 per cent to 13,4 million tonnes. This freight category even overtook coal, gas and oil in terms of the share of tonne-kilometres at nearly 24 per cent. The latter remained at approximately 20 per cent.

Coal takes down PKP Cargo

Coal takes up a central role in developments in the Polish rail freight sector. As state-owned rail freight operator PKP Cargo is in deep financial trouble, it partially refers to coal as the underlying reason for the company’s fall from grace.

In 2022, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki ordered the company to prioritise coal transportation on the Polish network. PKP Cargo now says that that measure was financially harmful to the company, and is seeking to hold the previous management board accountable for going along with the previous Prime Minister’s policy.

“The traffic that was there in the year the war broke out, I don’t think there will be any more”, they say. “In February 2022 the conflict broke out, in March – April there was traffic that we could not take on. Now it is zero compared to then. There used to be one train a day; now there are whole months when nothing is being transported”, he says. In the early months of the war, Ukrainian grain had to be diverted to Romania’s Constanta port as Odesa’s port was no longer safe.

Port of Odesa reopening

The rail freight crash follows a rather positive development for neighbouring Ukraine. After Russia pulled out of the grain deal, which established a corridor for ships carrying grain on the Black Sea, Ukraine had to create a safe route by force. It did so successfully, and ships are docking and leaving the Odesa port once again.

Romania invested billions of euros in rail infrastructure to Ukraine, according to Romanian media. That infrastructure may now become increasingly irrelevant. Similarly, Moldova has lost an important source of revenue now that Odesa’s port is open again.

The Moldovan agriculture minister, Vladimir Bolea, comments: “From the moment when the port of Odesa and their other ports were opened, transit through the Republic of Moldova was reduced to a minimum. I mean, it was a source of income for the Moldovan Railways, quite important, and, unfortunately, it has been completely reduced.” Besides grain, a metallurgical plant also used the route through Moldova, representing 20 per cent of the country’s revenues from Ukrainian transit.

Romania seeks other collaborations

Romania is looking elsewhere for rail freight successes. Its state rail freight operator, CFR Marfa, signed a memorandum with the Kazakh KTZ Express on developing transport services along the Middle Corridor. Romania hopes to turn the Constanta port into a major logistics hub for continental Asia-Europe freight.

Similarly, the country signed a memorandum with Saudi Arabia on logistics cooperation. The focus is on Romanian intermodal transport and harmonising regulations to ease international trade.

Moreover, the platform calls for the government to implement TEN-T agreements and focus on interoperability. Security systems, such as ERTMS, need to be affordable. At the moment, it will cost the sector hundreds of millions of euros to retrofit locomotives to implement ERTMS. On the most important routes, 740-metre trains need to be facilitated.

International rail freight

The parties also appeal to the new ministry leadership to cooperate with Belgium and Germany on the development of an interoperable rail freight network. The vast majority of Dutch rail freight transits the country deeper into Europe. Similarly, the platform says that national rules need to be limited in order to better implement European legislation.

One of the remaining items on the list is unified legislation on railway yards. Dutch municipalities, of which there are 342, create their own rules at the moment.

Lastly, as one of the world’s most densely populated countries, the negative externalities for local residents caused by rail freight likewise take a prominent spot on the list. According to the platform, the government should formulate clear policy on construction along tracks, measures to reduce noise and vibrations when trains pass. Suitability for military transport is also among the wishes of the platform.

Rail Freight Platform

The Dutch Rail Freight Platform was established in 2023 upon request of the previous state secretary for infrastructure. It brings together private rail freight parties, government officials, resident representatives and a representative of infrastructure manager ProRail. Together, they advise the ministry on rail freight policy.