World’s first self-driving train unveiled in Germany
- ByStartupStory | October 15, 2021
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn and industrial conglomerate Siemens launched the world’s first automated and driverless train on October 11, 2021. This self-driving train was launched in the city of Hamburg. The project is being developed by Siemens and Deutsche Bahnand it is being dubbed as ‘World First’. It will join the northern city’s S-Bahn rapid urban rail network and Germany plans to add four such trains to the network.
The project is part of a 60 million euro modernization of Hamburg’s rapid urban rail system. These automatic trains will provide reliable service without laying a new track. It would be the first time a fully automated Hamburg train will run on tracks shared with other regular trains. While other cities in Europe, such as Paris, already have driverless metros and airports often have automated monorail trains that pass through terminals, German reports say these run on exclusive single-track.
These trains can carry “30% more passengers”. Apart from improving punctuality, these trains will save more than 30% energy. This train is more punctual and energy efficient than the conventional trains. These trains will start carrying passengers from December on the existing rail infrastructure.
The train, even though is fully automated and doesn’t require any human intervention while it’s moving, it’ll still be accompanied by a human driver whenever there are passengers on board, according to Deutsche Bahn and Siemens in a statement.
About Deutsche Bahn
It is a German railway company headquartered in Berlin. It is a private joint stock company. The Federal Republic of Germany is the sole shareholder of the company. It is the second largest transport company in the world. In 2015, Deutsche Bahn was the world’s largest railway company by revenue.
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