Digital railroad technology - Digital interlocking technology on ICE line for the first time
The German Railways (DB) have commissioned the first digital interlocking system on a high-speed railway line in Swabia. The interlocking station in the Bavarian Donauworth replaces two more than 60-year-old relay interlocking stations in Meitingen and Mertingen. Trains on the Munich-Augsburg-Nuremberg ICE line can reach speeds of up to 200 hours per kilometer in this section. DB, the Federal Government, and the State of Bavaria have invested a total of 127 million Euros in this project, according to the railway.
According to DB, this is a pre-series project. The railway wants to test components and prepare for a later large-scale deployment of the technology. The signaling and safety technology of the rail infrastructure is to be modernized and digitized by the year 2035. The "Digital Rail" allows trains to be operated fully automated and at shorter intervals, explained the company.
"We are leading in Europe with the digital interlocking station in Donauworth, as we control signals online for the first time," said DB Infrastructure Board Member Berthold Huber. The technology brings not only additional capacity in the network but is also easier to maintain and therefore more reliable. In passenger and freight traffic, there will be additional and punctual trains as a result.
The DB subsidiary operates approximately 2,600 interlocking stations with various technologies, some of which are over 100 years old. The railway is also conducting further model projects for digital interlocking stations on the Cologne-Trier line, in Warnemünde on the Baltic Sea, and in the Harz-Weser network between Braunschweig and Göttingen.
This digital interlocking system on the high-speed line in Swabia is located at the railroad station in Nuremberg's neighboring city, Donauwörth. German Railways (DB) and their partners have invested a significant sum of 127 million Euros in this project. With this modernization, DB Infrastructure Board Member Berthold Huber asserts that they are taking a significant step towards leading Europe in digital rail technology. The new system in Donauworth allows signals to be controlled online for the first time, bringing additional capacity and reliability to both passenger and freight traffic. Similarly, DB is pursuing digital interlocking projects on other lines, including the Cologne-Trier line and the Harz-Weser network in Bavaria.
