| Developers: | Russian Railways (RZD) |
| Branches: | Transport |
Content |
2024
The head of Russian Railways called the timing of the appearance of unmanned long-distance trains in Russia
In September 2024, the CEO RUSSIAN RAILWAY Oleg Belozerov announced that unmanned long-distance trains could appear on Russian railways until 2030. According to him, automatic control technologies are already actively developing, however, to ensure complete safety on the railway tracks, it will be necessary to leave a driver in the cab who will monitor the functioning of the system and, if necessary, will be able to intervene. Belozerov noted that the robotization of train control processes requires additional measures, but in the next 8-10 years fully automated trains will become a reality.
According to RIA Novosti, the head of Russian Railways stressed that the introduction of unmanned technologies has already begun, and Russia is taking steps in this direction. In particular, in August 2024, the world's first Lastochka passenger train with the third level of automation was launched. This system implies the presence of a driver in the cab who does not control the train, but only controls the operation of automatic mechanisms, and in the event of an emergency, he can intervene in the control.
Belozerov also added that in the future it is planned to move to the fourth level of automation, which implies a complete absence of people in the cockpit. This will be an important stage in the development of unmanned traffic on the railways. Nevertheless, as the head of Russian Railways noted, this process will require significant efforts to ensure security and modernize infrastructure.
The introduction of automated control systems in railway transport is one of the priority areas of the company's development. According to Russian Railways, the design and testing of new technologies by the end of September 2024 is already underway on various sections of the railway network.[1]
Russian Railways launched the first unmanned Lastochka at the MCC. Anyone can ride it
On August 28, 2024 RUSSIAN RAILWAY , they announced the launch of the first ever railway transport Russia unmanned electric train. Specially equipped "Swallow" will carry passengers along the Moscow Central Ring (MCC). More. here
Russian Railways called the timing of the launch of a completely unmanned train
In January 2024, Russian Railways announced the timing of the launch of a completely unmanned train. According to the head of the holding, Oleg Belozerov, the operation of such a vehicle should begin in 2026, and the launch of a partially self-driving train is scheduled for the summer of 2024 (it will run along the Moscow Central Ring/MCC).
 | We plan to launch a fully unmanned train in 2026. Some of the shift is due to the fact that Finist, a completely replaced electric train, has literally appeared now, and, accordingly, we are now hanging on it the necessary equipment that we have already developed, - said the head of Russian Railways on January 19, 2024. |  |
"Finist" is the imported version of Swallows"." These trains were built on the platform of the German Desiro electric train Siemens Russia , they have been produced since 2014 at the factory "." Ural locomotives The Russian analogue has five cars and 416 seats (there are 346 of them in Lastochka), the seats in the cabin are located three and two in a row one after another, there are no seats opposite each other. The number of toilets was also increased - three instead of two.
According to GOST in the field of unmanned vehicles, there are five levels of automation (UA), where UA0 is the lack of automation, UA1 is partial automation, UA2 is conditional automation, UA3 is high automation and UA4 is complete automation.
The third level implies the introduction of on-board technical vision based on an artificial intelligence system. Thus, the driver has more freedom and improved control over the situation on the tracks in front of the train. The system recognizes objects and obstacles and is designed to respond faster than a person.
In UA4, control is carried out in a fully automatic mode without the presence of a driver in the train cabin. All electricians, brake systems and other units, which are usually controlled by the driver in manual mode, must be controlled either automatically or remotely.[2]
2021: Russian Railways prepares to launch an unmanned train in Moscow
At the end of 2021, at the Moscow Central Ring (MCC), it is planned to launch an unmanned electric train into test operation, corresponding to the highest level of automation, when the driver on the train may be absent. Pavel Popov, deputy general director, technical manager of unmanned train projects at the St. Petersburg branch of NIIAS, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, spoke about this in February .
Pavel Popov clarified that developments related to unmanned trains at NIIAS began in 2015. In 2017, the first unmanned locomotive was launched at the Luzhskaya station, in 2019, Russian Railways began testing electric trains at the MCC equipped with vision and remote control systems. There are two such trains. In addition, the Lastochka trains at the MCC are equipped with systems for the second level of automation: when the driver in the train can start the movement of the train and control traction and braking automatically.
And now the final version of the electric train is being designed, which will fully meet the requirements for automation of the fourth level, when the driver is absent from the train, said Pavel Popov.
An unmanned electric train is a complex system that is interconnected with landing and disembarkation control systems, interval control, digital radio communications, a remote control and control center, etc. An additional depot for servicing unmanned trains is being thought out and in fact the entire maintenance technology is changing, the representative of NIIAS noted.
He explained that usually in the event of an abnormal situation, the dispatcher must contact the train driver, report what happened. Here, it happens, there are delays and not always correct perception. But now all such situations are being reviewed, all possible scenarios are being analyzed, and in fact, when an event occurs, the system, together with the dispatcher, must recognize what happened and give the command to all trains how to act.
To ensure digital communication of unmanned trains, it is planned to use LTE, said Pavel Popov. He added that Russian Railways and the Ministry of Transport have a dedicated frequency, and as of 2021, an LTE network is being built and put into operation.
One operator controls up to 10 trains and can control one remotely if necessary. According to Popov, the technology of switching from automatic mode to remote control mode and vice versa has already been worked out. In addition, a center for remote control and control of the movement of electric trains is being created.
The vision system that the train is equipped with at the last tests detected everything within 700 meters in winter conditions. But an update will be made, which should increase this distance to 1 thousand meters.
In addition, stationary complexes are installed in areas of limited visibility along the train path, from which information about obstacles is automatically transmitted to the train.
One of the difficult issues is ensuring the safe entry and exit of passengers, it is especially difficult during peak hours, said Pavel Popov. Now the crew of the electric train is responsible for this, and incidents have occurred. In this regard, as of the beginning of the year, a set of works is being carried out so that all situations can be controlled.
The representative of the NIIAS added that at the time of the launch of the unmanned electric train at the MCC, at first there will still be a driver in it, who, however, will not be involved in any way. During 2021, it is planned to develop regulatory documents that allow you to do without a driver at all.
2020
Russian Railways began testing the first trains with artificial intelligence from Cognitive Technologies
In early September 2020, the first trains with artificial intelligence were tested by Russian Railways. For this project, cooperation was organized with Cognitive Technologies. Read more here.
Ministry of Transport and Russian Railways create a virtual training ground for unmanned trains
On July 20, 2020, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation and Russian Railways announced the creation of a virtual landfill for unmanned trains. The computer simulator presented by the department is designed to test computer vision technology in unmanned technology on railway transport.
The task of the landfill is to check the correctness of the virtual driver's systems on trains with the implementation of computer vision technology. The virtual landfill should provide an imitation of various traffic conditions arising on the railway, including models of threats to physical means in difficult meteorological conditions and illegal interference with infrastructure facilities.
The results of analytics and design will be considered at the end of the year. The total cost of the project will be determined after the development and testing of the technical solution of the landfill.
| | It is necessary to check the reliability, stability and accuracy of the software modules that implement computer vision technologies on unmanned vehicles and provide appropriate signals to vehicle control systems, says Dmitry Bakanov, director of the digital transformation department of the Ministry of Transport. - Providing verification of such systems in real physical conditions can be not only expensive and long, but also difficult to implement. Snow, rain, fog, dusk, sudden obstacles, dangerous rapprochements with other participants in the movement - all this must be checked in virtual conditions before releasing drones equipped with computer vision systems into the real world. | |
By July 20, 2020, according to Nikolai Zubarev, director of the Information Security direction of the Digital Economy organization, the Information Security federal project has determined 25 million rubles in 2021 from extrabudgetary sources and 75 million rubles from the federal budget in 2020-2021[3]
Notes
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