German rail company Deutsche Bahn on Friday, said it’s has concluded plans to introduce driverless trains as early as 2021.
The chief executive of Deutsche Bahn, Ruediger Grube, told newsmen in Berlin that they were expected to complete work on the driverless trains by 2021.
“I expect us to be able to operate parts of our network completely automatically by 2021, 2022 or 2023.
“Autonomous driving can be difficult in a complex rail network that includes high-speed and regional passenger and goods trains, but it is possible,’’ Grube said.
A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn, confirmed the report that the first testing of driverless trains would take place on a 30-kilometre track in the eastern state of Saxony later.
He said that the trains to be used in the tests had been fitted with cameras and technology aimed to detect obstacles on the track and halt the train before collision.
He added that there are also liability questions that had yet to be ironed out.
In February, the head-on collision of two commuter trains in upper Bavaria killed 11 people and injured dozens of others.
The accident was blamed on the signals control officer in charge of the train. (dpa/NAN)