Driverless train travels in wrong direction, injuring 14 in Japan

Fourteen passengers got injured in Tokyo after a driverless five-car train went in the wrong way and hit a buffer shop in Japan on Sunday, June 2.

According to a local media report, this accident was the first one in 30 years involving an automated train. The conditions of some of the injured people appeared to be serious but it is not life-threatening.

The train hit the buffer stop at Shin-Sugita station, which is the terminal of the self-driven Kanazawa Seaside Line, in the port city of Yokohama. The train travelled the wrong way for about 20 metres (65 feet) before hitting the shop, Akihiko Mikami, president of the train operator said at a press conference.

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

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.

Other 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.