Japan’s major railway operator has announced that its famous Shinkansen bullet trains will run in a new driverless version starting in the middle of the next decade, in a move partly driven by a population crisis.
Railway company JR East said Tuesday it will first roll out trains in which tasks normally assigned to drivers are automated, but with a driver in the cabin, on sections of a route starting in 2028.
The following year, the company hopes to test driverless trains on a short section of out-of-service track, before rolling them out between Tokyo and Niigata on the Joetsu Shinkansen line in the mid-2030s.
“By realizing driverless driving and transforming railway management into an efficient and sustainable system, we will adapt to changes in the social environment such as population decline and reforms in workers’ working methods,” the company said in a statement.
But the main motivation behind the plan is “the need for continued innovation in railway technology, which in turn could help address labour shortages and other issues,” a JR East spokesman said.
The maximum speed of a Shinkansen on the Joetsu Line is 275 km/h, but on other lines it can travel at 300 km/h or faster.
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