Automated shinkansen bullet trains could become a reality sooner than expected. Central Japan Railway Co. and East Japan Railway Co. have set their sights on implementing driverless systems for the Tokaido Shinkansen and the Joetsu Shinkansen, respectively. While both companies are making progress in testing these systems, their goals differ due to the characteristics of the routes and the level of cost-cutting they aim to achieve. In a successful trial on May 11, a test train equipped with an automatic train operating system (ATO) departed from Hamamatsu Station in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan. The ATO allowed the train to accelerate, decelerate, re-accelerate, and ultimately stop at Shizuoka Station in response to instructions. The trial demonstrated a deviation of only 0.35 inches in the stop position and an arrival time error of just 2 seconds, prompting JR Central officials to deem it a major success.   JR Central's ATO development faces several challenges. They in...