Germany has launched its first fully automated subway and the first driverless metro.
The system, known as Rubin, was developed by Siemens Mobility and will be operated by the Nuremberg transit authority (VAG) on Metro Line 3.
Rubin's U3 is expected to operate for one year in mixed running on a section of track shared with the conventional trains of Line U2, says Siemens.
By the end of 2009, the existing Line U2 will be converted to fully automated operation.
According to Siemens, full automation enables the trains to run at headways of 100 seconds during peak hours instead of 200 seconds intervals in normal operation or 150 seconds in mixed operation.
Described by Siemens Industry Sector CEO Dr Heinrich Hiesinger as a "a showcase project", Rubin is expected to become a model for the successive conversion and modernisation of conventional metro systems to automated operation worldwide, the company says.
By Ozge Ibrahim
