A locomotive of Belgian rail freight company Lineas carried out a demo run in the Netherlands fully autonomously on Tuesday. In the process, the locomotive also encountered obstacles on the rails, reports Alstom, which is developing the technology.

The demonstration, which took place near Breda, concludes a series of tests that are part of a partnership between French train manufacturer Alstom, Dutch infrastructure manager ProRail, and Belgian rail freight operator Lineas, the former NMBS/SNCB Logistics or B Cargo. According to Alstom, the test shows promise in marshaling yards before possible application to other trains.

Efficient detection system

The demonstration was performed by a linear shunting locomotive equipped with Alstom’s Automatic Train Operation technology (ATO) being developed in Charleroi and an intelligent Obstacle Detection System (ODS) from Elta Systems, an Israeli provider of defense products and services specializing in radar, Autonomous Ground Systems, Intelligence, and Cyber products.

According to Alstom, the autonomous locomotive faced several obstacles – a person, a car, a wagon, and a misplaced switch – and reacted fully autonomously and without intervention by locomotive crews. “Under practical conditions, the obstacle detection system proved effective up to a distance of 500 meters from obstacles, providing a significant buffer in marshaling yards.”

GoA4

The demonstration was one of the highest possible levels of automation, known in the industry as GoA4, which means fully automated starting, driving, stopping, and dealing with obstacles without direct crew involvement during shunting.

This is thanks to its automation systems, intelligent vision sensors, radars, and navigation satellites such as GPS or Galileo. “It is well known that this true automatic train control system in mainline environments presents challenges that we do not see in the ‘closed circuit’ operation of metros and monorails,” says Jean-François Beaudoin, Alstom’s president of digital solutions.

According to those involved, the demo ride paves the way for wider application of autonomous driving during shunting operations. The technology should also help increase rail freight operations’ capacity, improving transport capacity by up to 30%. This is achieved by putting more freight trains on the same line.

Better for the environment

Alstom also states that autonomous locomotives dedicated to rail operations in major ports will increase efficiency and reduce polluting emissions. If rail demonstrates greater efficiency and reliability, thanks to autonomy, it will help reduce the share of road transport (89% of the total) in goods transport, which is much more polluting than rail.

Another advantage is a reduction in the energy bill. Electricity consumption is optimized by the autonomous train. The latter drives in a constant matter, unlike drivers. Experts estimate that the autonomous train would result in 20 to 30% energy savings, reduced operating costs, and thus a significant improvement in reliability, writes the French newspaper Le Figaro.

Market leader

Alstom says it has already conducted successful ATO tests in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UK. Some of these tests were conducted for passenger transport. It also plans to test two prototypes – one for freight and the other for regional passenger transport – that are fully automated by 2023.

In the race for autonomous trains, a market that is expected to generate between 30 and 40 billion euros in revenue between 2025 and 2040, Alstom, which has developed expertise in this domain since the 1970s, wants to extend its lead.

But it is not alone. Siemens Mobility is also working on this. In association with Deutsche Bahn, the German group has already tested a driverless train on the Hamburg urban network in October 2021.