East Japan Railway (JR East) plans to launch self-driving trains by the fiscal year 2028.
JR East will deploy driverless trains with increasing degrees of automation. First, it will run bullet trains for the Joetsu Shinkansen line by fiscal year 2028.
During the 2nd-grade automation, the bullet train or Shinkansen will operate autonomously. However, it will have a driver in the cockpit for emergencies.
By the mid-2030s, the East Japan Railway will have a 3rd-grade automation train with crew but no cockpit personnel.
The trains will also have the fourth grade of automation without a driver or crew.
The Shinkansen has been Japan’s high-speed transportation symbol for over half a century. However, Japan Times says the driverless locomotive will make operations more efficient and sustainable than now.
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