ITS Congress
World premiere: The first S-Bahn runs fully automatically in Hamburg
The S-Bahn line S21 commutes on a specially equipped route between the Berliner Tor and Bergedorf / Aumühle stations
© Marcus Brandt / dpa
The first digital S-Bahn ran in Hamburg on Monday – fully automatically. With the multi-million dollar project, the railway has “arrived in the digital future,” said the DB boss.
An international mobility congress has started with a world premiere on the rails in Hamburg: For the first time, Deutsche Bahn and Siemens have let an S-Bahn run fully automatically, digitally controlled. Railway boss Richard Lutz announced that the technology would be gradually expanded to the entire S-Bahn network of the Hanseatic city and later to other networks in Germany. According to Siemens boss Roland Busch, it is a “blueprint for the digitization of the railways in Germany, Europe and around the world”. Autonomous railways have been around for a long time. What is new is the open system, which is compatible with every railway that masters the technical standards.
ITS Congress: Hamburg as a “real laboratory”
At the World Congress for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), Hamburg wants to be a showcase for the future of mobility for a week. “At the ITS Congress you will experience a city that is facing the challenges of the future and actively promoting the mobility transition,” said Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) at the opening of the show. “This includes autonomous driving in real operation, intelligent traffic control on roads and rails as well as digital services that make our mobility easier, more efficient and more climate-friendly.” Hamburg is “a real laboratory” for the future of mobility, said the head of the organizer, Ertico, Angelos Amditis. 400 exhibitors are present; Around 13,000 visitors are expected in the Hamburg exhibition halls by Friday, mainly experts in transport, logistics and digitization.
Hamburg’s Senator for Transport Anjes Tjarks (Greens) emphasized the importance of the congress for the city well beyond its duration. People should benefit in the long term from projects such as the digital S-Bahn. The S-Bahn line S21 commutes on a specially equipped route between the Berliner Tor and Bergedorf / Aumühle stations. The trains, which have been specially converted for automatic operation, start off, accelerate, brake and stop by themselves. From December, the four S-Bahn trains that have been converted for this purpose will be running on schedule.
When rail travel was a luxurious pleasure
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More punctual, more passengers, less energy
The “Digital S-Bahn Hamburg” project is financed with around 60 million euros in equal parts by Hamburg, Deutsche Bahn and Siemens. It is part of the “Digital Rail Germany” project, with which Deutsche Bahn intends to generally bring its infrastructure into the digital age by the next decade. This is urgently needed, said Busch, because there is “still ancient technology” in many parts of the railway.
Rail boss Lutz described digitization on the rails as “the key to the mobility transition”. According to the unanimous assessment of experts, significantly more people will have to switch from cars to rail in the fight against climate change. However, expansion of the existing network is often difficult due to long planning phases and lack of space, especially in metropolitan areas.
With the digitalization of the railways, railways can run at a much tighter cycle, so that, according to Lutz, up to 30 percent higher capacity would be possible without additional tracks on existing lines. Siemens boss Busch added that up to 30 percent energy could be saved and punctuality would be improved. “The digital S-Bahn is a world first,” said Busch. “The new technology has already been approved, and because it has open interfaces, all operators worldwide can use it immediately for all train types.”
Siemens currently sees itself as the only provider of this system, as Busch told the German Press Agency. In addition to the railway, there are already other interested parties who want to take a look at the technology. Throughout Germany, a large part of the trains and routes in local and long-distance traffic could be upgraded in this way by the 1930s. According to Busch, this requires investments of two billion euros per year.