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Fourteen injured after Japan driverless train goes wrong way

01:44 PM Jun 02, 2019 | Team Udayavani |

Tokyo: Fourteen passengers were injured after an driverless five-car train in suburban Tokyo went in the wrong direction and crashed into a buffer stop, Japanese police said Sunday.

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Local media reported that some injuries — the first resulting from an accident involving an automated train in 30 years — appeared to be serious but non-life-threatening.

The train hit the buffer stop at Shin-Sugita station after travelling the wrong way for about 20 metres (65 feet), Akihiko Mikami, president of the train operator, said in a midnight press conference.

The station is a terminal of the self-driving Kanazawa Seaside Line in the port city of Yokohama.

Mikami added that the operator has shut down the line and it was uncertain when services would be resumed.

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Compared to self-driving cars that have recently taken the road in several countries on a test basis, automated trains have a relatively long history in Japan.

Among accidents that have made headlines are a collision involving an autonomous Uber vehicle that killed a pedestrian and a fatal crash that involved electric car maker Tesla’s “Autopilot” feature, both of which occurred last year in the United States.

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