Automatic Train Operation For Metro & Railways – A Global Perspective And Analysis

Automatic Train Operation

Automatic train operation (ATO) is a mechanism usually supported by a device used to improve operational safety by automating train operations. The degree of automation is denoted by the Grade of Automation (GoA), which ranges from 1 to 4 (where the train is managed automatically without any human intervention). ATO is most commonly utilised on automated guideway transit and rapid transit systems, where it is easier to assure passenger safety. A driver is present on most systems to limit risks associated with failures or emergencies.

Many current systems are linked with automatic train control (ATC) and, in many situations, automatic train protection (ATP), where the system performs typical signaller activities such as route setting and train regulation. The ATO and ATC/ATP systems collaborate to keep a train inside a scheduling tolerance. To conform to a timetable, the combined system marginally changes operating characteristics such as the power-to-coast ratio when moving and station dwell time.

There are five Grades of Automation (GoA) of trains, according to the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) and the international standard IEC 622901. These levels relate to the SAE J3016 automotive classification:

Additional Types

Operation of ATO

On the other hand, ATP is the safety mechanism that assures safe train spacing and delivers sufficient warning and notification when it is time to stop. ATO is the ‘non-safety’ element of train operation that deals with station stops and starts, and it indicates the train’s stopping position once the ATP confirms that the line is clear.

The train approaches the station with clear signals, allowing it to do a routine run-in. The train receives a station brake command when it reaches the first beacon, which was initially a looping cable but is now usually a fixed transponder. The onboard computer calculates the braking curve to guarantee that the train stops at the correct spot. As the train approaches the platform, the curve is revised a number of times (which varies by system) to assure accuracy.

When the train comes to a complete stop, it checks that its brakes are engaged and that it is still within the door-enabling loops. These loops confirm the train’s position relative to the platform and which side the doors should open on. When all of this is completed, the ATO opens the doors. The ATO closes the doors and automatically restarts the train if the door closes proving the circuit is complete after a predefined or variable time established by the control centre. Platform screen doors are also available on some systems. ATO also provides a signal for these to open once the on-board verification operation is done. Although mentioned as an ATO function here, door enabling at stations is frequently implemented as part of the ATP equipment since it is viewed as a ‘critical’ system that requires the same safety validation processes as ATP.

If the ATP system does not intervene, the ATO system accelerates the train to cruising speed, allowing it to coast to the next station brake command beacon and then brake into the next station.

Advantages of GoA3+

The Florida Department of Transportation funded a study in 2021 by experts from Florida State University, the University of Talca, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University that outlined the following advantages of autonomous trains:

• Removing potential sources of human error
• Rise in capacity through better utilisation of existing rail tracks
• Reduced operational costs. In the case of GoA 4, Paris Métro lowered its running costs by nearly thirty per cent.
• Increased overall service dependability
• Improved fleet management and service adaptability
• Energy efficiency and conservation

Accidents & Incidents Involving ATO

While ATO has been shown to significantly reduce the possibility of human mistakes in railway operations, there have been a few major mishaps employing ATO systems:

• Two trains on Shanghai Metro Line 10 crashed between Yuyuan Garden and Laoximen stations on September 27, 2011, injuring 284-300 persons. Initial investigations revealed that train operators breached and ignored regulations while manually driving trains after a power outage on the line caused its ATO and signalling systems to malfunction. There were no recorded deaths.
• On May 4, 2015, two trains collided at Oceana station on Mexico City Metro Line 5 during heavy rain with hail, when both were travelling towards Politécnico station, injuring twelve persons.
• Joo Koon Rail Accident – On 15 November 2017, an SMRT East-West Line C151A train rear-ended and collided with another C151A train at Singapore’s Joo Koon MRT Station, injuring 38 people. 
• On 18 March 2019, two MTR M-Train EMUs collided in the crossover track section between Admiralty and Central while MTR was testing a new version of the SelTrac train control system intended to replace the line’s existing SACEM signalling system on the MTR Tsuen Wan Line in Hong Kong. There were no passengers on either train; however, operators on both trains were hurt.
• In 2021, a collision occurred in the Kelana Jaya LRT line in Malaysia. It may be noted that the LRT Kelana Jaya Line is a medium-capacity light rapid transit line and the first fully automated and driverless rail system in the Klang Valley, Malaysia.

Urban Passenger Railways

• The (former) line II (now L5) of the Barcelona Metro was the first in the world to install a GoA 2 photoelectric cell-based ATO system on an existing metro line and on its FMB 600 series (ca) rolling stock. This system was put in place in 1960-1961 and was discontinued in 1970. L9 (Europe’s longest driverless line) and L10 are currently using GoA4 ATO. L11 is running with GoA3.
• The Teito Rapid Transit Authority (TRTA, now Tokyo Metro) began testing GoA 2 ATO in 1962 on the Hibiya Line between Minami-Senju and Iriya, later expanding to the entire line in 1970. TRTA 3000 series set 3015 was the first train refitted with ATO operating, while new trains ordered after 1963 were built with ATO. 
• Many underground and conventional railway lines in Japan use GoA 2 ATO, with some implementations distinguishing the ATO systems’ auto-acceleration function from the indigenously developed TASC auto-braking system, which can theoretically function without driver input if the former fails. The Tokyo Disney Resort Line monorail, which opened in 2001, employs GoA 3(+), whereas people mover systems like the Yurikamome line in Tokyo, which opened in 1995, and the Linimo low-speed maglev line in Aichi Prefecture, which opened in 2005, use GoA 4. 
• A pilot for GoA 2 ATO on the London Underground saw 1960 Stock trains equipped with ATO operated along the Woodford to Hainault portion of the Central Line from 1964 until 1986, when the trains were returned to manual control.
• The Victoria Line was the world’s first newly and recently built full-scale automatic railway and metro line when it debuted in 1968, and it has since been the first to have an ATO system reconfigured and replaced. The whole Central, Northern, and Jubilee lines have been upgraded to use and run with an ATO. A revolutionary new automatic train control system is currently being installed on the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, and Metropolitan lines.
• As the first ATO line in the United States, the PATCO Speedline between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Lindenwold, New Jersey, opened and launched its first stretch in 1969. (The Expo Express, which ran during the World’s Fair Expo in Montreal, was the first in Canada and North America).
• BART, which debuted in 1972, was the first new rapid transit system with numerous lines built with ATO. ATO has been used on the Montreal Metro’s Green, Orange, and Blue lines since 1977. Since 1979, all lines operated by MTR Corporation on the Hong Kong MTR Network have been using ATO. ATO has been implemented on the old KCR East Rail line network since 2002. Since 1980, the Glasgow Subway has employed the ATO.
• The French Véhicule Automatique Léger system is a fully automated GoA 4 system that was first used on the Lille Metro in 1983. Its ATO technology is also used on the Paris Métro Line 14, Line 1, and Lausanne Métro Line 2 with conventional heavy rolling stock.
• When the Busan Metro Line 1 opened in 1985, it was the first line on the Korean Peninsula to utilise a GoA 2 ATO system. This was followed by Seoul Subway Lines 5, 7, and 8 in 1996, Daegu Metro Line 1 in 1997, Incheon Subway Line 1 in 1999, and Seoul Subway Line 6 in 2000. Gwangju Metro Line 1 in 2004 and Daejeon Metro Line 1 in 2006. In 2011, Seoul Subway Line 2 began operating GoA 2 with an ATO system. 
• Currently, GoA 2 ATO is utilised for operating Seoul Subway lines, Busan Metro lines, and all Daegu, Daejeon, and Gwangju Metro lines, as well as the AREX and Seohae Line, while GoA 4 ATO is used to operate Busan Metro Line 4, Gimpo Goldline, Incheon Airport Maglev, Incheon Subway Line 2, Shinbundang Line, and U Line.
• The Vancouver SkyTrain, which opened in 1985 in Vancouver, British Columbia, is an automated and driverless system. Since 1987, all lines on Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) have used ATO. Since its inception in 1987, all lines on London’s Docklands Light Railway have employed ATO (GoA 3).
• The Tren Urbano, which opened in 2004 and serves the San Juan metropolitan area of Puerto Rico, includes an ATC system that allows for totally automatic operation. Existing U2 and new U3 lines of the Nuremberg U-Bahn were converted to ATO in 2008, with a one-year mixed service.
• ATO is utilised on the M1 Red Line and the M3 Yellow Line of the Milan Metro. Following a crash in 2009, the Washington Metro may be the world’s first system to revert to (largely) manual operation from ATO. However, GoA2 remain installed on all lines and is scheduled to be employed again in the future.
• Historically, the Prague Metro used the GoA 1 system ARS on all lines. GoA 2 is available on line C (Siemens PA 135 and AD Praha LZA). Line B has been converted from ARS to LZA beginning in 2020. The proposed line D remains running unattended.
• Line 4 of the Sao Paulo Metro debuted in 2010 as the first GoA 4 system in South America. In June 2012, the BMT Canarsie Line (L train) of the New York City Subway began full ATO operation with CBTC. Similarly, the IRT Flushing Line (7 and 7> trains) received track and signal upgrades, with full ATO operation beginning in November 2018.
• The trains on Dubai Metro, as well as those on AnsaldoBreda Driverless Metro and Line C of the Rome Metro, do not have a driver. Doha Metro trains began service in 2019, running autonomously in ATO without a driver.
• A GoA 4 ATO system is used by Aerotrain (KLIA) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The B, D, and C lines of the Los Angeles Metro use the GoA 2 ATO system. Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital city, introduced public transit (Jakarta MRT) in 2019 that uses ATO with GoA 2 Level.
• Sydney, Australia’s capital city, has the Sydney Metro, which opened in 2019 and operates at GoA Level 4. Sydney is also improving existing lines of the Sydney Trains commuter rail network in order to enable GoA 2 and higher service in the future.
• Line 14 was the first newly built Paris Métro to operate in GoA 4, opening in 1998, and Line 1 later had its GoA 2 ATO system from 1972 replaced with a newer GoA 4 CBTC system.
• In December 2020, Delhi Metro in India began autonomous train operations on the Botanical Garden-Kalkaji corridor, using the GoA 4 ATO system.

Freight Railways
Rio Tinto Group’s ‘AutoHaul’ system on its Pilbara iron ore railways and train services. This system is GoA 4 competent, allowing trains to run without a single person aboard for the whole trip to the mines and back. The first completely autonomous test was conducted in October 2017 across a 100-kilometer segment. The group was granted accreditation by Australia’s Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator, allowing for the autonomous operation of iron ore trains in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

Four remote-controlled GE E60 electric locomotives are used by the Navajo Mine Railroad. This railway is GoA2 competent, meaning it can run a train without any passengers for the full trip out to the Four Corners Generating Station and back.

Mainline Operation
Since 1991, the Czech railways have employed GoA2 operating. Approximately 400 vehicles currently have on-board units. 1500 km of lines (out of a total network of 9000 km) are fitted with lineside ATO, while the remaining 1500 km are covered by data for GPS localisation.

In the United Kingdom, the Thameslink core segment between St Pancras and Blackfriars in Central London became the first ATO route on the National Rail network in 2018. 

The Elizabeth line, which opened in 2022 as the central component of Crossrail, has been fitted with ATO-supported Trainguard MT CBTC on its core central section between London Paddington station and Abbey Wood railway station, while the branch to Heathrow Airport is equipped with ETCS Level 2 superimposed with ATO, as is the section of the Great Western Main Line from Paddington to Heathrow Airport Junction overlaid on top of the existing TPWS and AWS safeties.

High-Speed Rails

• German ICE high-speed lines equipped with the LZB signalling system support a type of GoA 2 ATO operation known as AFB, which allows the driver to let the onboard train computer drive the train on autopilot, automatically driving at the maximum speed currently allowed by LZB signalling. 
• In this mode, the driver is merely responsible for monitoring the train and keeping an eye out for unexpected hazards on the tracks. On lines with only PZB/Indusi, AFB acts and functions totally as a speed cruise control, driving at the speed specified by the driver and application of the brakes manually if required and necessary.
• The CR400BF-C ‘Fuxing Hao,’ a version of the CR400 Fuxing series operating on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou intercity railway, is reported to be the world’s first commercial high-speed rail service capable of driverless automation. The Grade of Automation (GoA) has not been specified.
• JR East demonstrated autonomously operated bullet train E7 in Niigata prefecture in November 2021; 5 kilometres between Niigata Station and Niigata Shikansen Stock Yard.
• JR West also announced in April 2022 that they will test ATO on a 12-car W7 class Shinkansen train deployed on the Hokuriku Shinkansen at the Hakusan General Rolling Stock Yard.

Automatic Train Operations in Indian Railways

The National ATP System for Indian Railways is Kavach, which has been developed in collaboration with three Indian vendors by the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO). Kavach was developed to assist locomotive pilots in avoiding Signal Passing At Danger (SPAD) and overspeeding in difficult weather conditions such as dense fog. The device also improves train speed management and prevents accidents by automatically deploying brakes as needed.

The main features of the Kavach system are an automated brake application in the event of the locomotive pilot’s inaction, the inclusion of an SOS feature to control trains in emergency situations, the provision of a line-side signal display in the cabin for improved visibility in foggy conditions and at higher speeds, continuous updating of movement authority, automatic whistling at level crossings, and collision avoidance via direct loco-to-loco communication.

India is making technological advances in order to usher in digital railways. One of the outcomes of this rapid digitalisation is the development of driverless trains, often known as unattended train operations. However, the Indian Railways move to driverless trains is expected to be a gradual process. This is the experience that millions of passengers are going to experience with the help of Driverless Trains, the railway future that is set to become a reality in India very soon.

Conclusion – The Driverless Operations

The ‘world’s first autonomous, driverless train’ trial experiment was inaugurated in Hamburg, Germany, in October 2021. According to sources, traditional, standard-track, non-metro train technology could theoretically be deployed for rail transit worldwide and is also significantly more energy efficient. Since 2022, ATO has been introduced on the London Underground’s Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, and Metropolitan lines. Once Crossrail is operational, ATO has been planned to be deployed on portions of the line. The central London segment of Thameslink trains was the first on the UK mainline railway network to have an ATO with ETCS Level 2. 

The Vienna U-Bahn has been planned to be equipped with ATO by the end of 2023 on the new U5 line. All lines being constructed for the new Sydney Metro will be driverless, with no staff on board. The Toronto subway has been undergoing signal changes since 2012 in preparation for the introduction of ATO and ATC during the coming decade. Sections of the Yonge-University line have been completed. Since 2022, the underground segment of Line 5 Eglinton has been outfitted with ATC and ATO. The underground portion has been planned to be powered by a GoA2 system, while the Eglinton Maintenance and Storage Facility will be powered by a GoA4 system and will run about the yard driverless. The Ontario Line is expected to open in 2030, with a GoA4 autonomous system. ATO has been in daily use on Czech Railways lines with AVV since 1991 and has been in test operation with ETCS since 2008. SNCF and the Hauts-de-France area have been experimenting with a French Regio 2N Class equipped with sensors and software since March 2021.

Indian Railways has developed its own Automatic Train Protection (ATP) System named Kavach to improve train safety. RDSO developed Kavach in collaboration with three Indian vendors, and it has been adopted as the nation’s National Automatic Train Protection (ATP) System. Kavach will not only assist Loco Pilot in avoiding Signal Passing At Danger (SPAD) and overspeeding but will also assist in train operation during adverse weather such as dense fog. Thus, in the coming years, Kavach is expected to considerably improve the safety and efficiency of railway operations in India.