OREANDA-NEWS. The French National Railway Operator (SNCF) has successfully completed a test launch of an unmanned train on the Ile-de-France region line. Control over it was carried out remotely. According to the company, in April, the train was already tested on local lines in the departments of Aeson and Val-de-Marne, south and southeast of Paris. According to the management of the SNCF, "the experiment was successful" and "allowed to confirm the technical feasibility of remote control of trains".

The train driver who was driving the train received an image from two cameras on the monitor, which allowed him to make decisions regarding the braking or acceleration of the train. Data was transmitted both via satellite channel and via private LTE mobile communication system, which is similar in its parameters to 4G mobile communication standard.

The experiment was carried out in order to ensure the possibility in the future, in the event of a dangerous situation, the transfer of control over the autonomous train from its control system to the operator. Also, such control will be applied to the composition of complex maneuvers and a number of difficult movements, which are forced to make freight trains when loading and unloading cargo.

According to the director of this project, Luc Laroche, "the experiment carried out is a major premiere in the history of the development of railway transport". “All this represents an important stage on the way to the creation of trains of the future”, the expert emphasized. SNCF has planned that the operating prototypes of a fully autonomous regional passenger, as well as freight trains, should be created by 2023 and put into operation from 2025.

The current series of experiments was conducted by SNCF in cooperation with the railway research institute Railenium from the city of Valenciennes and the company for the development and production of electronic systems Actia.