NIIGATA, Japan – East Japan Railway Co. is testing autonomously operated bullet trains in Niigata Prefecture as it studies introducing trains without engineers (called drivers in Japan) in the future, Kyodo News reported. The test, the first of its kind for the Shinkansen bullet train network, began Oct. 29, and was opened to the media for a run on Nov. 17. A driver was seated in the cab to deal with any possible emergencies. It was the first test in Japan of the autonomous operation of a bullet train already in commercial service.
During the test conducted in the early morning hours of Nov. 17, the 12-car train ran without any manual intervention after a driver switched it to automatic mode. The E7-series train was operated remotely from a control center. After running about 3 miles from Niigata Station and nearing the targeted speed of 68 mph, the train stopped at the Niigata Shinkansen depot. It missed its intended stopping point by 3 inches, but this was within the allowable margin of 19 inches.
JR East has yet to decide when to fully introduce the autonomous driving system. For driverless operations, it is also necessary to remotely monitor the tracks and inside the trains. JR East is also testing the use of local 5G high-speed communication services to send video footage from trains to the control center in real time.
JR East has conducted similar autonomous driving tests on its “Alfa-X” prototype new Shinkansen train.
Other major railway companies conducting tests for autonomous driving are West Japan Railway Co. and Kyushu Railway Co., which have held tests on the Osaka Loop Line and Kashii Line local services, respectively. In Japan, automatic systems have already been introduced on some monorail services, which have no ground-level tracks or crossings, Kyodo News reported.
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