TTC successfully tests automated subway trains and riders were none the wiser
Torontosun.com
Nov. 4, 2017
By Joe Warmington
TTC subway driver Gus Tzirivilas may have been at the controls of Friday's train pulling into Sheppard West subway station.
He may have always had his eye on the track, you may have seen at times and he even had his hands on the levers.
But looks can be deceiving. It wasn't Gus who was driving.
In the last two weeks, for the first time in the rich history of the TTC and unbeknownst to the passengers in the cars behind, hundreds of trains were being run by computer.
It's called Automatic Transit Control and in the past 14 days it has been very much in control of all trains travelling between Dupont and Yorkdale Stations.
"We've been doing testing without passengers, then two weeks ago we were confident to go to the next test phase with passengers," TTC spokesman Brad Ross explained.
ATC will start rolling out next month with the new subway line extension to Vaughan.
And much of the TTC subway system will be run that way in 2018 and Ross says "the whole system by the end of 2019."
But ironing out the glitches until the last train Friday, it was all computerized on the north-western sections of Line 1.
"It's all done from train and track," Ross said. "It's computer-based where a number of components talk to one another."
He said it allows "trains to run closer together, safely, with the operator only pushing a button to start the train from a standstill." The computerized operation "allows for 25% more trains, which means less waiting and crowding."
"ATC is used the world over" and is "all part of modernizing the TTC," Ross said.
This is the future.
But, Ross insists the technology won't put Gus out of a job.
"It won't be going that way," he said, adding there will still be a person in the cockpit for safety reasons. "There will always be an operator in the cab."
In fact, Gus was ready to take over the controls should things fail during the testing.
For example there was one "overshoot" of a station platform that the driver was able to correct and relay the information back to control, which adjusts the computer for the next time.
That's what the dry runs are for, Ross said.
The TTC was pleased with the testing, which is over for now. During the two weeks they were satisfied they were able to operate in live transit situations without many major issues.
"It went extremely well," said Ross.
No one complained at all during the last two weeks and no one even knew it was happening - which is exactly what the TTC was hoping to achieve.
You have seen automated cash checkout at grocery stores.
Now the TTC can move people around the subway without a human being at the helm.