Automatically - Run Train Service Begins On Tokyo's Yamanote Line
Automatically-run trains have begun service on a busy commuter line in central Tokyo.
East Japan Railway has been developing an automatic operation system in anticipation of a future driver shortage, as Japan's population drops.
Four years ago, the company began test runs during after-service midnight hours on the Yamanote loop line.
Daytime test runs without passengers have been held since February this year.
On Tuesday, a train equipped with the company's Automatic Train Operation system ran for the first time with passengers on board.
The regular 11-car train, marked "ATO," left Osaki Station shortly before 4 p.m.
The driver needs to only push a button when leaving a station. The train accelerates, decelerates and stops by itself throughout the 34.5-kilometer loop.
Some stations on the Yamanote Line have yet to install platform doors, and there are crossings along the route.
The ATO system is not designed to deal with situations where a person or vehicle enters the tracks.
The Yamanote Line serves an average of 760,000 passengers a day, and its rush-hour schedule is extremely tight, with a train arriving at a station every three minutes.
Automatic train operation in such an environment is said to be unprecedented in Japan.
East Japan Railway plans to have two ATO-equipped trains make a total of about 1,000 runs over the next two months, and gather data on driving function, safety measures and energy efficiency.
The company aims to have all trains on the Yamanote Line equipped with the system by around 2028.
It also aims to have only drivers and no conductors by around 2030, and eventually make the trains driverless.