The Train Driver Is No Longer Needed
In 2025, Russian Railways made a decisive leap forward. Fully automated electric trains are now running on the network, artificial intelligence detects railcar faults faster than humans, and the company’s strategy for the next decade is to embed neural networks into every transport process.
Railways and the Digital Revolution
Russian Railways is a vast and complex system that underpins the country’s entire logistics backbone. It operates 87,000 kilometres of track, employs more than 700,000 people, runs 260,000 automated workplaces, carries over 80% of all freight, and transports millions of passengers each year. At this scale, even marginal efficiency gains translate into enormous economic impact.
A human operator can respond to an alert in about 1.2 seconds, while artificial intelligence makes a decision in roughly 0.3 seconds. That gap can become a matter of life and death. At the same time, high costs associated with staffing, maintenance, and fault recovery lock up capital that could otherwise be invested in development.
Digitalisation and the adoption of AI are therefore not optional upgrades, but a strategic necessity for remaining competitive in the global economy.
When the Driver Becomes an Engineer
The past year proved to be a turning point for Russian Railways. In August, the first Lastochka electric train with Level 3 automation was launched on the Moscow Central Ring. A driver is still present in the cab, but no longer drives the train. Instead, the operator supervises the system and can take control only in exceptional situations.
As early as 2026, the company plans to introduce a fully driverless Lastochka train. This means the train driver (locomotive driver) will disappear from the cab entirely. An onboard engineer will monitor equipment, while a single dispatcher will be able to oversee up to four unmanned trains simultaneously.
Large-scale AI deployment has also begun in train traffic control. On the Moscow Railway alone, microprocessor-based control systems have already been installed at 91 stations.
In parallel, AI is being rolled out in technical diagnostics. Previously, inspectors manually examined railcars, recorded video, and later identified faults, a process that took around 40 minutes. Today, AI analyses video and sound in real time, reducing inspection time to just three to five minutes. The economic effect of this technology has already exceeded the initial investment by a factor of two, and the system is being tested at 32 railway facilities.
Russian Railways is also expanding AI-based video surveillance systems that monitor passenger flows at stations, detect potentially dangerous behaviour, identify safety violations, and analyse the condition and occupancy of railcars. The system processes 2.5 million events per day.
By 2035, artificial intelligence is expected to underpin every core business process at Russian Railways. The company is already running 13 AI projects, including unmanned control not only for passenger trains but also for shunting locomotives.
Significance for Russia and Beyond
For Russia, the introduction of AI into rail logistics carries substantial implications.
First, it reduces operating costs in one of the country’s most capital-intensive sectors. This frees up resources for rolling stock modernisation and the construction of new lines. Improved logistics quality lowers transport costs, influencing the prices of goods and services. Residents of regional areas gain faster and more reliable rail connections, while freight operators benefit from more predictable delivery times.
The export potential of Russian developments in this field is also considerable. Russian Railways is building its own traffic management systems and AI solutions for diagnostics and logistics, which could be offered to rail operators across the post-Soviet space, Asia, and other regions.
Moreover, the Moscow–St Petersburg high-speed rail project, scheduled for testing in 2028, is already being designed with the option of fully unmanned operation. White Gyrfalcon trains, expected to run on this route at speeds of up to 400 kilometres per hour, are being equipped from the outset with digital control systems and autopilot functionality. This signals Russia’s intention to develop next-generation high-speed trains capable of competing with European and Asian counterparts.
A Main Line to the Future
The coming years will be decisive for the transformation of Russia’s rail transport system. By 2030, digital infrastructure is set to expand across the entire Moscow Railway network, with full integration between Moscow Central Diameters lines, suburban services, and long-distance operations.
After 2030, AI is expected to become the standard mode of railway infrastructure management, enabling fully autonomous control of transport flows with minimal human involvement. Digital twins of stations and main lines will allow predictive maintenance and early detection of potential failures.
Extending AI functionality to other federally significant rail corridors will create a national management system capable of optimising train movements, freight flows, and resource allocation in real time. This will effectively turn Russian Railways into a single intelligent organism.
Overall, 2025 demonstrated that Russia is ready to compete with global leaders in transport automation. The train driver, who for a century and a half stood at the centre of railway operations, is gradually leaving the scene. In their place comes an intelligent system that sees further, thinks faster, and makes fewer mistakes. This is not merely a technological shift, but a change in paradigm, redefining what railways are and what their future can be.
