Russia: The national operator, Russian Railways (RZD), has commissioned the automated ES2G-113 Lastochka EMU to transport passengers on the Moscow Central Ring (MCC).
The automation, including computer vision, was developed by the Russian Railways research institute, NIIAS. Using AI, the train moves independently, with the driver remaining in the cab only to monitor the situation, open and close doors and take control from the robot in an emergency. This is the world’s first GoA3 passenger train, which operates in free-field conditions.
The computer vision system of the head car of the GoA3 ES2G-113 Lastochka EMU. Source: Russian Railways
The aim of the project was to reduce the intervals at the MCC to three minutes. It has been under development for several years. Last year was also a record for Russian Railways, when the national operator tested the remote control of the Lastochkas on the line with other trains. Read more about the case in ROLLINGSTOCK’s Top 10 events and trends in the global rolling stock market for 2023.
The head car of the GoA3 ES2G-113 Lastochka EMU with the inscription “Automatically operated”. Source: Russian Railways
Now Russian Railways has plans to complete testing of a fully unmanned automatic train operation technology, GoA4, by the end of this year.
