Rhine-Alpine News
14.08.2024
Italy tests new high speed self-driving rail inspection pod
Picture by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI)
Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), Italy’s manager of its national railway infrastructure, tested a fully autonomous Unmanned Railway Vehicle (URV) prototype to map safety and efficiency issues on its high-speed rail network. The 200 km/h self-driving prototype is the latest in the global competition to automate rail. If installed on real rails, the prototype will inspect, monitor, and assess the country’s railway infrastructure to reduce RFI employee safety concerns. The autonomous URV can securely check hazardous regions where human evaluations would be perilous.
Powered by advanced batteries, the vehicle can operate for up to four hours continuously and reach speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour. This enables it to cover large sections of the railway network quickly, optimising the time required for inspection and monitoring tasks.
Fermerci and FerCargo call for intervention from the Italian Ministry of Transport
Symbolic picture created with Microsoft Copilot
The presidents of the railway sector associations Fermerci and FerCargo, Clemente Carta and Mauro Pessano, have called for urgent intervention from the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport to prevent a disastrous crisis. The unsustainable conditions faced by freight rail operators, without any feedback or support, are causing a significant disruption to the Italian industrial system and local economies. The continuous interruptions of railway lines, caused by PNRR works until 2026, are leading to a reduction in transport capacity of over 50% in 2024, with peaks of 80% during the summer months. Natural events, such as floods in Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany and the Red Sea crisis, are also causing a collapse in rail freight traffic, with a loss of 3.2% in 2023 and a further 6.7% decline in 2024.
Sources(in Italian):
Shipping duties on the Moselle to be abolished
Picture of the Moselle river bend by Joshua Kettle on Unsplash
The German, French, and Luxembourg governments have agreed to abolish charges for inland waterway skippers on the Moselle from July 2025. The move aims to shift freight transport from roads to ships and save the Saar industry around two million euros a year. The Federal Ministry of Transport’s State Secretary, Oliver Luksic, stated that all German inland waterways would be free of charges from 2025. The Association of Saar Steelworks supports the abolition of the levies, arguing that standardized national regulations are essential for the Saarland steel industry. The International Moselle Company, responsible for the development of the Moselle and charge distribution, will be dissolved. Despite the changes, the construction of the second lock chambers on the German Moselle will continue.
Source(In German):