Alstom and partners demonstrate shunting operations at GoA4
Alstom, Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail and rail freight company Lineas on Tuesday demonstrated the operation of a shunting locomotive on Grade of Automation (GoA) Level 4. Dutch sister publication SpoorPro joined the demonstration of some...Read more
Thales and Knorr-Bremse will jointly develop ATO for freight trains
German manufacturer of braking systems Knorr-Bremse and French technology company Thales are joining forces to develop further automated features of the Digital Freight Train (DFT). The two companies have signed an MoU to implement Automatic...Read more
Fully automated metros introduced on line 4 in Paris
Since this week, passengers on metro line 4 in Paris can board fully automated metros. Equipped by Siemens Mobility, four automated vehicles with CBTC signaling at GoA 4 have entered service, and more will be...Read more
How Virtual Coupling can bring the needed rail capacity for the future
As railways are viewed as key to sustainable mobility, the increase of rail’s modal share for both passenger and freight transport will cause congestion problems on many national and urban networks. Virtual Coupling promises to...Read more
German research project on autonomous driving enters second phase
Alstom, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the TU Berlin are moving their research project “Automated regional trains in Lower Saxony, Germany” to the next phase, the partners recently announced.Read more
Increasing capacity on rail: why not couple moving trains?
InterviewWhat if you could run more trains on a railway by coupling different trains while they are running? That is the aim of Israeli startup DirecTrainSystems (DTS), building on know-how of refuelling airplanes mid-air. This...Read moreATO’s advanced functionalities performance lacks consistency, Dutch test results show
Last year’s trial runs by Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail to test specific functionalities of Automatic Train Operation (ATO) have demonstrated the potential of the current ATO system to also execute advanced functionalities under the Dutch...Read more
Frankfurt’s metro network to switch to digital control system
Siemens Mobility will work with Frankfurt transportation company VGF in refurbishing the city’s metro network with a Communication Based Train Control System (CBTC). The contract marks the first major rollout of a CBTC system in...Read moreProse and Ricardo to join forces for ATO research project on Betuweroute
Railway engineering company Prose and consultancy Ricardo will join forces in developing a new set of requirements for Freight Automatic Train Operation (ATO) for DB Cargo, the two entities announced earlier this week.Read more
Czech railway test centre upgrades tracks for autonomous trains
Czech-based Railway Research Institute VUZ plans to further upgrade its test tracks with ETCS and study the testing of autonomous trains. They will also install their own sources of clean energy and production of hydrogen,...Read more
Russian Railways to test fully automatic train in 2023
Russia will start test runs with a fully automated passenger train in the middle of 2023. This Lastochka train is currently being built by train manufacturers Siemens and Ural Locomotives. The vehicle will be equipped...Read more
Netherlands decides about ATO implementation by end of 2025
ProRail is going to investigate the potential of Automatic Train Operation (ATO) together with Dutch Railways NS, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, railway undertakings and municipalities. After the research phase, which will last...Read more
‘Dutch Betuwe route is ideal for testing ATO on freight trains’
DB Cargo and ProRail are starting a new tests with Automatic Train Operation tests on important Dutch freight corridor. “The Betuwe route is a very interesting track which is optimised for freight, with ETCS and...Read more