Rail freight holds the key to sustainable mass freight transportation, but it faces numerous challenges. In Germany, the rail share of freight transport has stagnated around 20% since 2016, despite rail being essential for meeting national and European climate targets. Traffic volumes are rising, skilled labour is scarce, infrastructure is ageing and customers demand faster, more flexible shipping. Nowhere is this more apparent than in wagonload freight; direct delivery of individual wagons is declining in Germany and has vanished entirely in several European countries. To take volume back from the roads, rail needs more than lower prices, it needs new technology. Enter ASINO.
What is ASINO?
ASINO (pronounced AH-zee-no) stands for Advanced, Self-Propelled, Innovative Bogie. The name means "donkey" in Italian - a versatile, robust and reliable beast of burden. This reflects the concept’s philosophy: not a racehorse, but a simple, cost-effective, and durable solution built on proven technology.
All the components a wagon needs to move and stop by itself are integrated into the bogie: a complete electric drivetrain with battery, inverter, motor and gearbox, plus compact cooling, control electronics, a small air compressor for the brake system and communication and positioning sensors.
Plug-and-Play Compatibility with Standardized Interfaces
Because bogie interfaces in Europe are highly standardized (e.g., UIC 510-1), the ASINO bogie is a true plug-and-play solution. It fits the same interfaces as a conventional Y25-family bogie, allowing it to be fitted to new wagons or retrofitted into existing ones in a matter of hours without structural modifications.
Plug and play with ASINO under hundreds of types of freight wagon
This ensures full compatibility with existing infrastructure, rolling stock, and maintenance processes. The system is fully separated from the vehicle by well-defined interfaces, enabling fast, safe, and cost-effective retrofitting with minimal downtime.
Four Modes of Operation
1. Shunting and Last-Mile Operation
ASINO wagons can drive independently at up to 25 km/h with a range of at least 10 km, climbing gradients of up to 12.5‰, autonomously, automatically, or by remote control. Single wagons can be moved through marshalling yards, industrial parks, and sidings without a shunting locomotive or dedicated staff.
2. Mainline Operation
On long-distance routes, the wagons couple into conventional trains and are pulled by a locomotive at up to 120 km/h, with full compatibility with existing infrastructure and rolling stock.
3. Regenerative Braking and Tractive Boosting
While wagons with ASINO bogies are being pulled by locomotives, energy recovered through regenerative braking provides all the energy required for subsequent last-mile sections, reducing brake wear, noise, and energy losses. Separate charging is unnecessary. One single stop from 100 km/h can save up to 2€ in diesel costs and nearly 5 kg of CO₂!
4. High-Speed Boosting
On steep gradients or during demanding acceleration phases, the wagons can engage their motors at full speed and provide a traction boost to the locomotive, enabling longer trains, higher speeds, or fewer locomotives.
Engineering built for the real world
The concept deliberately focuses conventional materials, standard parts and reliable supply chains: a welded sheet-steel frame based on the proven Y25 bogie family, a single nose-suspended motor-gearbox drive unit per bogie and vibration-isolated subframes for sensitive components. A compact braking system with an integrated compressor lets the wagon apply and release its own brakes without any external air supply, and rejoin a conventional train without refill delays. An LFP battery is sized as a compromise between energy demand, tractive power, cost, mass and lifespan.
More than a drive system
Together with the Digital Automatic Coupler (DAC), ASINO is a platform for further innovation: step-by-step automation up to GoA3/GoA4, AI-based control and swarm organization, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and fully automated shunting and coupling. ASINO stands to revitalize wagonload freight, make small yards and sidings economically viable again, cut transport emissions, and counter the skilled-labour shortage.
From concept to demonstration
Since starting as a feasibility study in 2020, the project has progressed through concept work, international collaboration and detailed energy, traction and use-case analyses. The next step: building one or more demonstrators together with industry experts and testing under real conditions.
Whether on long-distance routes, the last mile or shunting, ASINO has the potential to significantly reduce the workload, energy requirements and number of locomotives needed, thereby contributing to a competitive rail system. As a flexible and intelligent platform, ASINO also opens the door to many advances in the field of autonomous driving and the expansion of sustainable rail freight transport.
Contact
Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Kopp
Head of Department
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Institute of Vehicle Concepts
Vehicle Architectures and Lightweight Design Concepts
