Plans to operate a driverless metro seem to have incurred a setback. The ‘automatic metro’ is supposed to operate on the new line 3 first. The line was supposed to go automatic in 2030 but given slow progress on the construction of the new line this no longer seems a realistic scenario.
Guy Sablon, spokesman for the Brussels local transport company MIVB, says line 3 will only be able to go automatic in 2032 at the earliest.
The company isn’t ruling out other lines going automatic or driverless before this date. In the course of 2025 tests will be carried out on lines 1 and 5. Between the stations Erasmus and Coovi it will run ‘automatic’.
The decision to roll out automatic services on line 3 first was taken out of financial concerns. Now the completion of line 3 is being delayed the transport company is looking at other options. “We’re not ruling out automatic services will start on lines 1 and 5 earlier, but that is a political decision. In theory we’ll be ready to automate these lines in 2025” says Sablon.
An automated metro will allow a higher frequency of services. Metro services would be able to run every 90 seconds – a gain of one minute in comparison with today. Automated services don’t require a driver. All services are operated by a modern signalling system that shows the location of each carriage. Modernisation of the system will be complete in 2024.
Automatic services require platform screens. The transparent screens separate platforms from the rails. Doors provide access to carriages but only open when a train is at a standstill.
So far only stations Erasmus, Eddy Merckx and Coovi have been equipped with the screens as part of the tests planned on lines 1 and 5. The screens ensure that passengers can’t end up on the track.
The system also requires identical metro trains. At present several different versions operate. 43 modified M7 trains have already been ordered, but only half have been delivered. The MIVB expects to take receipt of the remaining carriages within 18 months.