MOSCOW Metro has successfully introduced an entirely automated LRV into revenue service. The LRV began operating on Line 10 on September 3, running between Shchukinskaya metro station and Kulakova Street in the northwest of the city.
In line with local regulations, a member of staff is onboard to monitor the operation of the LRV, which Moscow Metro says has undergone more than 8000km of tests without recording a single incident.
The vehicle is equipped with a range of technologies developed by technicians at Moscow Metro, including sensors, computer vision, a high-precision route map, localisation tools, movement planning software and wheelslip prevention systems.
Together these technologies are enabling the LRV to operate independently, including stopping at designated points, opening and closing doors, obeying traffic lights, giving way to pedestrians, negotiating junctions, moving between tracks and adhering to the Line 10 timetable.
Expansion
The Moscow city authorities are planning a staged expansion of the driverless LRV programme.
Three more LRVs are expected to be fitted with autonomous systems by the end of this year, with more than 300 - around two-thirds of the total fleet - to follow by 2030, Moscow Metro has confirmed. By 2035, it is expected that around 90% of the city’s LRVs will be operating without drivers.
The project forms part of a wider push to introduce automatic train operation (ATO) in Moscow. In December, the city will begin the first phase of pilot testing for Russia’s first driverless metro train on the Big Circle Line. The system will initially be trialled overnight without passengers using a Moskva series train.
