Niigata – East Japan Railway Co. on Wednesday invited the media to observe a test run of an autonomous bullet train in Niigata Prefecture as it eyes introducing trains without drivers in the future amid a labor shortage. During the test, conducted in the early hours of Wednesday, the 12-car bullet train ran without any manual intervention after a driver switched it to automatic mode. The E7-series train was piloted remotely from a control center. It was the first test in Japan of the autonomous operation of a bullet train already in commercial service. While the eventual goal is driverless trains, several drivers and other staff members were aboard the train during Wednesday's test to respond to any emergencies.

Japanese railway companies are turning to artificial intelligence to help tackle potential problems for their shinkansen bullet trains caused by accumulations of snow. West Japan Railway Co. is developing an AI system to gauge the amount of snow attached to Hokuriku Shinkansen trains that cut through Niigata, Toyama and Ishikawa prefectures adjacent to the Sea of Japan. The railway operator currently decides how many personnel to deploy for snow clearance a day beforehand, based on information from meteorological data providers and past experience, but it is often not very accurate. AI will gather data from images of trains that have accumulated snow while traveling, study weather conditions and predict the number of personnel necessary for clearance work. Test operations have proved positive so far and the system is set for full introduction next winter.