Moscow Begins Testing Fully Driverless Lastochka Train
The train is monitored remotely by a human operator from a control center.
Moscow has begun testing a driverless train equipped with a Grade of Automation 4 (GoA4) system, the highest level of train automation. At this level, no driver needs to be physically present in the cab. The system has been installed on a Lastochka train operating on the Moscow Central Circle.
“At the fourth level, there is no driver in the cab. Instead, a driver-operator works from the control center and oversees the system,” said Sergey Kudryashov, Deputy Director General of the St. Petersburg branch of NIIAS. “A train with the highest level of automation will travel on its own, open and close its doors, brake, and perform other operations, while a human monitors it from the center and intervenes if an emergency occurs.”
Kudryashov emphasized that the train control system was developed entirely in Russia. He said the project has no direct counterpart elsewhere in the world because of the operating environment: the trains run on open rail infrastructure rather than within a closed system.
