Japan plans driverless Shinkansen bullet trains by mid-2030s
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JR East says its plans for driverless bullet trains stem in part from Japan's declining population and the resulting labour shortage.
PHOTO: AFP
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TOKYO – Shinkansen bullet trains could be whizzing around Japan without drivers from the mid-2030s, one of its main rail operators said, motivated in part by the country’s demographic crisis.
East Japan Railway (JR East) will first introduce trains where many of the driver’s tasks are automated on parts of one route from 2028, the firm said on Sept 10. The driver will remain in the cab.
The company hopes to trial driverless trains in 2029 on a short stretch of out-of-service track, before rolling them out between Tokyo and Niigata on the Joetsu Shinkansen line in the mid-2030s.
“Through realising driverless driving and transforming railway management into an efficient and sustainable system, we will adapt to changes in the social environment, such as declining population and reforms in how workers work,” a company statement said.
The main reason behind the plan, however, “is the need to constantly innovate railway technology, and that could in turn help address labour shortage and other issues”, a JR East spokesman said.
The Shinkansen’s maximum speed on the Joetsu route is 275kmh; on other lines, trains can run at 300kmh or faster.
Japan, whose shrinking population is the world’s second oldest, is already facing worker shortages across many sectors of the economy. AFP
