The £12m train now arriving… is driving itself!

For the 150 passengers aboard, it will have felt like a train journey like any other.

But there was one key difference to the 9.46am from Peterborough to Horsham in Sussex yesterday – it was driving itself.

The Thameslink service was the UK’s first self-driving mainline train. If brings the prospect of fleets of driverless trains – and the end of the misery caused to passengers by irregular services – one step closer.

As the £12million train made its way between London’s St Pancras and Blackfriars stations at around 11.10am, driver Howard Weir pressed a yellow button – switching it into ‘automatic train operation’ mode.

The train’s autonomous systems then took control of braking and accelerating, while the driver remained in the cab to carry out safety checks and close the doors.

Mr Weir, who has driven trains for ten years and has been testing the automated system for the last eighteen months, said: ‘It’s different – a little unnerving at first. We drivers err on the side of caution but this knows the limits it can go to.’

The Class 700 Thameslink trains, built by German giant Siemens, have been fitted with an autonomous mode and their own in- cab signalling system. This is linked to Network rail’s digital signalling system, but will also allow trains to communicate with other self driving trains on the network.

Sensors will also reveal which carriages have space – saving passengers from fruitless searches for seats.

The technology will allow services to run every few minutes, and closer together – with as little as 100m between them – without endangering passengers.

The prospect of putting such faith in technology may unnerve some passengers.

But Govia Thameslink railway, which operates the Thameslink franchise, stresses that the driver will be ready to take control at any point.

Self-driving trains have been used on London Underground’s Victoria line for half a century, while London’s Docklands Light railway is also driverless.

Govia bosses believe the trains will become common place in decades to come. They selfdriving mode on the 115-strong fleet will initially be deployed between St Pancras and Blackfriars in May next year, with the number of services increasing to 24 an hour – one every two to three minutes – by December, a frequency never achieved before on mainline railways in Britain.

This will help create capacity for up to 60,000 more passengers at peak times. The services will be extended to London Bridge in December 2019. Each electricpowered 12-carriage train – each costing just over £12million – will have a maximum speed of 100mph but will accelerate faster than older trains.

‘A little unnerving at first’