Shanghai Metro trains to run without drivers
2012-05-18 16:18:56Shanghai : Shanghai is carrying out tests so that its metro trains can run
without drivers.
Currently testing technologies to allow subway trains to be piloted
automatically, without human drivers, Shanghai metro is likely to implement the
technology on a route by this year-end, reported Shanghai Daily.
Shao Weizhong, vice president of Shanghai Shentong Metro Group, said Line 10 is
"originally designed to be driverless model".
The route was opened to service in 2010 and unmanned driving was expected to be
put into use a year into the operation. It, however, got delayed as the operator
feared the technologies were not mature.
The plan skidded when two Line 10 trains collided in a tunnel, causing injuries
to hundreds of commuters.
Xu, a daily metro commuter, wondered: "The trains crashed even when drivers were
on, then who would board an unmanned train?"