Development of the GOA2.5 Automatic Train Operation System with ATS-DK

With a declining birthrate, aging population, and shrinking working population, the cost of train operations must be reduced to maintain the railway network. A solution for overcoming this problem is to introduce automatic train operation (ATO). ATO systems, which are equipment for automated driving control under the protection of an automatic train control (ATC), a continuous type of automatic train protection (ATP), are introduced in specific types of rail lines, such as automated guideway transit (AGT) systems or subway systems in Japan. A new type of ATO systems operated by staff who are not required to have a driver's license is required to reduce operating costs further. The authors have developed an ATO system based on automatic train stop (ATS)-DK which is an intermittent ATP and equipped with continuous speed check. This system has achieved the first automatic operation in the ATS line, which conventionally has required ATC, and also the first GOA2.5 in which an attendant other than the driver performs emergency stop operations at the front of the train. This paper describes the details of the study, the progress of the demonstration operation, and the effects of the introduction of the GOA2.5 system.