Rail automation news – Page 5
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Metro Report InternationalHamburg groundbreaking marks start of U5 construction
GERMANY: Hamburg’s Mayor Peter Tschentscher has formally launched the construction of driverless metro Line U5 with a groundbreaking ceremony exactly a year to the day after the granting of planning approval for the first phase. Described by the city government as Germany’s largest inner-city transport project, ...
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In depthViewpoint: We cannot afford another failure
The European rail sector risks sleepwalking into an existential crisis if it cannot accelerate the funding and deployment of the Digital Automatic Coupler, argues Dr Jürgen Wilder of Knorr-Bremse.
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NewsRack railway to be converted to driverless operation
SWITZERLAND: Stadler is to supply what it says will be the first fully automated adhesion and rack-and-pinion railcar for use on in an open overland railway environment, rather than in a tunnel or closed network where there is little risk of an obstacle on the line. ...
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Metro Report InternationalDriverless trains introduced on Paris metro Line 4
FRANCE: Grade of Automation 4 unattended driverless operation on Paris metro Line 4 was launched on September 12. There are initially four trainsets running automatically alongside trains with drivers, and more are to be gradually introduced to achieve full automation by the end of 2023. Catherine ...
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NewsDriverless heavy haul railway expanded to serve automated iron ore mine
AUSTRALIA: A 166 km branch has been built to connect Rio Tinto’s new Gudai-Darri iron ore mine in the Pilbara to its 1 700 km heavy haul network, which is operated using AutoHaul driverless trains. The first loaded train ran in June, with production scheduled to ...
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Metro Report InternationalLyon metro Line B goes driverless with GoA4 upgrade
FRANCE: Lyon transport authority Sytral Mobilités, operator Keolis and technology supplier Alstom launched Grade of Automation 4 unattended automatic operation of metro Line B on June 25.
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NewsInstallation robot to accelerate ETCS roll-out
NETHERLANDS: Strukton Rail is to work with Trackbot robot developers AMT Group and No Man Trackwork to produce a prototype autonomous machine for the fast and accurate installation of balises and axle counters as part of the national ERTMS deployment programme. The partners hope that a prototype ...
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NewsAutonomous shunting locomotive on test
FINLAND: A shunting locomotive retrofitted for unattended operation to Grade of Automation 4 is being tested at the Voikkaa Business Area as part of a project to develop an autonomous shunter for use at freight terminals, industrial sites and ports. Steelwheel has modified the Otso 4 ...
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NewsDriverless regional train research gets underway
GERMANY: Work has started on a project to develop and test technology for the driverless operation of regional passenger trains, and to identify the regulatory changes which would be needed to permit future use. The project is being undertaken by Alstom, the DLR aerospace research centre ...
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Rail Business UK‘Unique in Europe’ Welsh test centre to push technological boundaries
UK: The Global Centre of Rail Excellence at Onllwyn in south Wales will be ‘unique in Europe’ when it opens in 2025, GCRE Chief Technology Officer Andy Doherty told the Railway Industry Association Innovation Conference on April 27.
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In depthCybersecurity: Intrusion detection to protect the digital railway
Increasing reliance on digital technologies has made railways more vulnerable to cyber attacks. Intrusion Detection Systems can help to protect new and existing infrastructure and ensure availability.
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NewsAutonomous freight project awarded US government funding
USA: The Department of Energy has awarded $4·4m from its Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy initiative to support the testing of Parallel Systems’ prototype autonomous battery-electric vehicles for transporting containers by rail. The tests are intended to look at vehicle stability, contact-based platooning and energy efficiency. Stability ...
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Metro Report InternationalSt Petersburg orders trams with driverless capability
RUSSIA: St Petersburg transport operator Gorelektrotrans has awarded PK TS a 6·9bn rouble contract to supply a total of 57 trams. The order announced on February 8 includes three three-section, 27·5 m long 71-931M Vityaz-M trams with a capacity of 188 passengers, and 54 two-section, 19·4 ...
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Metro Report InternationalMoscow plans driverless tram test
RUSSIA: Driverless trams could be tested in Moscow by the end of this year, according to Deputy Mayor for Transport Maksim Liksutov. The city is currently working with technology company Yandex on a driverless tram project, Liksutov told delegates at a conference on Robots in the ...
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NewsSpace engineers rethink rail freight with autonomous battery-electric vehicles
Prototype autonomous battery-powered container wagons are being developed by engineers at California start up Parallel Systems. Co-founder, CEO and former SpaceX engineer Matt Soule explains how the company aims to bring new thinking to rail freight.
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Metro Report InternationalParis Line 4 reaches Bagneux as driverless conversion moves forward
FRANCE: Paris transport authority Île-de-France Mobilités and operator RATP opened the southern extension of metro Line 4 to Bagneux-Lucie Aubrac on January 13.
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Metro Report InternationalShanghai metro passes 800 km as another driverless line opens
CHINA: The total length of the Shanghai urban rail network reached 831 route-km with the inauguration of the city’s fifth fully-automated metro line on December 30.
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Metro Report InternationalWuhan goes driverless as three more metro lines open
CHINA: Wuhan’s third driverless metro line was one of three expansion projects totalling 73 route-km to be inaugurated in the Hubei provincial capital on December 26, taking the city’s operational network to 435 km and 282 stations.
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Metro Report InternationalNanning opens driverless Line 5
CHINA: Nanning’s fifth metro line was opened for revenue service on December 16. Designed for unattended train operation to Grade of Automation 4, the 20·2 km line looping around the western side of the city centre links Jinqiao Coach Station in the northeast to Guokai Dadao ...
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Metro Report InternationalGlasgow Subway train testing gets underway
UK: Preliminary testing of the new Stadler trains for the Glasgow Subway has begun, in what Strathclyde Partnership for Transport said marks a ‘major milestone’ for the modernisation of the 10·5 km circular underground line. In March 2016 SPT awarded a consortium of Stadler and Ansaldo ...