Lakeview's metro completed its first driverless trial run on the new airport line on Saturday morning, with a three-coach train covering the 14-kilometre stretch between the city centre and the airport in 22 minutes.
Engineers rode on board to monitor the systems, but nobody sat at the controls. The train started, stopped at each of the eight stations and opened its doors on its own, guided by a signalling system that tracks every train's position continuously.
"Today was about proving the systems talk to each other — the train, the signals and the platform doors," said project director Sunita Rao. "Hundreds more test runs will follow, in every kind of weather, before a single passenger boards."
In the video, you can see the view from the front window as the train climbs onto the elevated section near the lake, and the platform screen doors opening in sync with the train doors.
The airport line is expected to open to passengers next year after safety certification. Trains will run every four minutes at peak hours, and the line will connect with two existing metro lines in the city centre.
