What if The Atlantic owned a train car? Amtrak, I had just learned on the internet, allows owners of private railcars to lash onto runs along the Northeast Corridor, among other routes. "We should have a train car," I slacked an editor. Moments later, it appeared on my screen, bright red with our magazine's logo emblazoned in white, just like I'd ordered. It's an old logo, and misspelled, but the effect was the same: A momentary notion--one unworthy of relating to someone in private, let alone executing--had been realized, thanks to DALL-E 3, an artificial-intelligence image generator now built into Microsoft Bing's Image Creator website.

Drone footage from Coconino County Emergency Management shows the aftermath of a train derailment in Williams, Arizona. A drone video captured the aftermath of a massive train derailment in Arizona involving a freight train that emergency officials say was "carrying a variety of new cars, vans and trucks." The train, operated by BNSF, derailed around midnight Wednesday in Williams, located outside of Flagstaff, according to Coconino County Emergency Management. "A total of 23 cars derailed and sustained heavy damage. The train cars involved were carrying a variety of new cars, vans and trucks," Coconino County officials said.

East Japan Railway Co. unveiled Monday autonomous disinfection and mobility robots at its recently opened high-tech station in Tokyo, as it aims to introduce them by March 2025. The cleaning robot, which was developed by Nippon Signal Co. and Cyberdyne Inc., sanitizes handrails, benches and other parts of Takanawa Gateway Station by spraying disinfectant. The artificial-intelligence equipped robot, Clinabo CL02, uses three-dimensional cameras and sensors to avoid obstacles. JR East said it is considering using the robot and other disinfection robots to be introduced later to sanitize the inside of train cars in the future. In another demonstration, a robot that looks like a Yamanote Line train car served coffee in a conference room at the station. Other robots that carry luggage, food and drinks, as well as personal mobility vehicles for transporting people inside and around the station are also being operated on a trial basis as part of a project showcasing the area around the new station.

East Japan Railway Co. on Monday unveiled autonomous disinfection and mobility robots at its recently opened high-tech station in Tokyo, as it aims to introduce them by March 2025. The cleaning robot, which was developed by Nippon Signal Co. and Cyberdyne Inc., sanitizes handrails, benches and other parts of Takanawa Gateway Station by spraying disinfectant. The artificial-intelligence equipped robot, Clinabo CL02, uses three-dimensional cameras and sensors to avoid obstacles. JR East said it is considering using the robot, and other disinfection robots to be introduced later, to sanitize the inside of train cars in the future. In another demonstration, a robot that looks like a Yamanote Line train car served coffee in a conference room at the station.

Railway operators in the Tokyo area are in the final stages of preparations for the Olympics and Paralympics this summer. East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, is scheduled to open a new station on its Yamanote Line for the first time in 49 years in March. Takanawa Gateway Station, located close to a public viewing event site for the Olympics, is expected to be used by many passengers during the quadrennial sports event. JR East touts Takanawa Gateway as a "future station" that showcases cutting-edge Japanese technologies such as an autonomous security robot and a convenience store without shop assistants. By the end of this month, all train cars for the Yamanote Line will have space available for wheelchair users.

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.