(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Swiss Federal Railways has carried out successful tests that allowed engineers to remotely control a train near Zurich amid ongoing operations - a European first.
This content was published on March 21, 2024 - 14:35 2 minutes Keystone-SDA
Русский ru В Швейцарии протестировали локомотив без машиниста Read more: В Швейцарии протестировали локомотив без машиниста
In the future, trains could be controlled remotely and used for short journeys on construction sites or for tunnelling work, the Federal Railways says.
Autonomous trains will not be used to carry passengers, however remote control could bring greater flexibility during construction work, the rail company said on Wednesday in a statement.
+ Could a direct high-speed train link between Switzerland and London soon be a reality?
Trains could also be moved between holding locations and arrival or departure tracks. This would also allow drivers to spend less time in shunting facilities and to board trains at the same time as passengers. Occupational accidents near the tracks could also be reduced.
The tests were carried out in February and March by 24 train drivers at a remote-control facility in Oerlikon, canton Zurich. The test locomotive was at the Zurich Mülligen marshalling yard, seven kilometres away.
This was one of the first tests in Europe to be carried out amid ongoing operations, i.e. not on a test track. The test locomotive travelled at a maximum speed of 30km per hour.
+ Swiss Federal Railways returns to profit for first time since Covid
However, it will probably be several years before the system can be used on a daily basis, the company said. Technical systems must be developed and operating processes and regulations must be established at European level.
The system for the tests was developed by French railway company Alstom. Federal Railways was also supported by specialists from the German Aerospace Centre in evaluating the test runs.
Adapted from German by DeepL/kp/sb
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look
here ,
and if you have feedback on this news story please write to
... .
External Content Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you. Daily news
Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox.
Daily
Email
The SBC Privacy Policy provides additional information on how your data is processed.
I consent to the use of my data for the SWI swissinfo newsletter.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at ... .
MENAFN24032024000210011054ID1108016124
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.