A TEST run on Shenzhen Metro’s Line 20, the city’s first fully automated Metro line, was successfully carried out last week, marking a step forward in the operation of a driverless Metro line that is to be functional before the end of the year. The electricity-powered train, with a maximum speed of 120 km per hour, underwent tests on the power supply, signal and communication devices, wires and electromechanical systems. At the test stage, drivers are deployed as supervisors for the driverless technologies.

Phase I of Line 20, running 8.43 km, has five stations. The rapid transit rail line connects Terminal 4 of Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport and Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center in Bao’an District. The driverless technologies will be applied to lines 12, 13 and 14, and later on Line 16, when they are put into operation in 2022 and 2023. (SD News)