On 22 May 2025, in Entroncamento, João Fernandes of RAIL CoLAB and Carlos Vasconcelos of MEDWAY signed an agreement to develop a Freight Laboratory Train.
The agreement was presented at the Portugal Railway Summit, organised by PFP – Portuguese Railway Platform, at the National Railway Museum. MEDWAY supplied the base wagon, which was on display during the summit.
The project will fit a freight wagon with state-of-the-art sensors and remote monitoring equipment. The wagon can be coupled to different freight trains to continuously analyse axle and wheelset performance, coupling behaviour and braking action. Once in operation, it will also be able to monitor the track infrastructure.
MEDWAY and PFP have been members of RAIL CoLAB since it was founded in 2022.