Siemens and German rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) revealed on Monday, October 11, the world's first driverless, fully automated train in the city of Hamburg. Richard Lutz, CEO of DB said, "with automated rail operations, we can offer our passengers a significantly expanded, more reliable and therefore improved service -- without having to lay a single kilometer of new track." Though several airports around the world have driverless monorail terminal shuttles and Paris has driverless metro trains, the new train by Siemens and Deutsche Bahn is the first fully automated train that can safely run on existing rail infrastructure alongside regular human-driven trains. In its statement, Siemens describes the new train as more efficient due to the use of artificial intelligence (AI), which helps the train stick to schedule and meet increased travel demand more efficiently than a human driver. Four of the trains will go into operation in northern Hamburg's S-Bahn rapid urban rail network and they will start carrying passengers in December.

A driverless train that injured 14 people in Yokohama on Saturday after moving in the wrong direction continued moving for 1 meter even after hitting a buffer at a station because of the way the buffer works, the train operator said Monday. Saturday's accident occurred at Shin-Sugita station on the Kanazawa Seaside Line. Of the 14 passengers hurt, six sustained serious injuries. According to the operator, Yokohama Seaside Line Co., the unmanned train traveled for 25 meters in the wrong direction, hit the buffer, which is designed to absorb any impact, and then continued to move for about a meter. The Japan Transport Safety Board and the operating company are specifically investigating the circumstances of the accident, and believe that the impact was magnified when the moving train hit the buffer.