Driverless trains to begin trial operation this month

Pujiang Line, the city’s first driverless Metro line, will begin trial operation from March 31, Shanghai Shentong Metro Group announced.

The first train will leave Huizhen Road Station at 5:40 in the morning, while the last one will arrive at the station at 22:42. 

Passengers who take Line 8 to Shendu Highway should note that they won’t be able to change to the Pujiang Line after 22:30 as the last train would have left.

There will be 22 different bus routes distributed at each station along the line to provide more convenience to passengers, especially for those who come home late, Zhao Lei from the Minhang District’s transportation commission said.

During rush hour, the minimum interval between two trains will be three minutes and twenty seconds. During weekends the time will be six minutes.

In the first three months, Metro operators will have extra officers at each station of Pujiang Line to guide passengers.

“These driverless trains are the first of their kind in the city,” Shao Weizhong, press spokesman of Shentong group said. “People will need some time to get used to it, as do we.”

He added Pujiang Line is the first Metro line on which all services, including tickets, on-board intercoms, elevators and information systems, will be managed remotely by the system or officers in the central dispatch room. The operators are open to all kinds of suggestions and advice, and there will be an assessment after three months to see how the line has performed.

The four-carriage metro line covers a length of 6.7 kilometers, stopping at six stations: Shendu Highway, where passengers can change to Line 8, Sanlu Highway, Minrui Road, Puhang Road, Dongchengyi Road and Huizhen Road station.