The flat wagon platform, called m2, has four axles and a variable loading length of between 10.6m and 22.6m, which can be adjusted according to customer needs.

In addition, the platform provides a choice of other components, including different types of bogies, wheelsets and brakes, enabling the wagon to be optimised according to weight, power available and cost to facilitate the transport of a wide range of freight.

Following the completion of dynamic testing earlier this year, ending 18 months of development, the partners will now begin gaining approval of the platform for use on main line networks.

m² Wagon 2

“As part of the m2 project, we’re focusing on the needs of the freight forwarding sector,” says Mr Heiko Fischer, board chairperson for VTG. “The new wagons can be adapted quickly and easily to specific transport requirements. We thereby increase the attractiveness of rail freight and strengthen it in competition with road transport.”

The m2 wagon platform follows previous collaborations between DB Cargo and VTG. Between 2016 and 2019, the two companies cooperated on the Innovative Freight Train project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI), which was intended to make rail freight more economical, energy efficient and quieter. As part of the project, the partnership produced four different wagon models and 27 components.