Every morning at 6 am, you board the metro from your home near the Punggol coast. You rely on it to get to Singapore’s central area. Like many commuters, you choose the train for its affordability and the reliability of the city’s well‑established public transport network. 

As you descend into the platform, you recall a headline from last night: “The train of the future will be automated.” What does that even mean? But your thoughts are interrupted by the loud beep of closing doors. You don’t even try to catch the train that’s about to leave. They come so often nowadays. You’ve stopped thinking of them as “scheduled.” They just… arrive.

You settle in and pull out your phone: driverless metros have existed since the 1980s! You check your line: North East Line. Fully automated. You’re sitting in a driverless train right now.

You walk through the long open corridor of the train, all the way to the cabin in the front. No driver - just a windscreen and the tunnel ahead. You return to your phone. As you scroll, maps, timelines, and entire lists of systems unfold - city after city, line after line, all running automated trains just like this.

It hits you: the train of the future is here. 

In our past Journeys together, we told you about the boxes rail must tick to become the smart choice for the future of mobility:

• Rail must be tough and reliable. Passengers must think of rail as a secure, resilient, comfortable means of transport that they can rely on.

• Rail must be available and useful for all. The population is growing and aging. People are also using rail for more varied and bespoke purposes.

• Rail must be efficient and cost-effective. Governments and decision-makers must think of rail as a wise long-term economic investment.

• Rail must respect the environment. In a world of diminishing fossil fuels and natural resources, rail must embrace alternative energies and novel materials.

The red (perhaps LED?) thread running through all these topics? State-of-the-art innovation powered by over a century of rail experience.

Moving people and things around the world creates a lot of pollution. In fact, it's responsible for more than a third of all energy-related carbon dioxide emissions[1]. That's why we need to find better ways to move. Norway, famous for its beautiful fjords and its dedication to protecting the environment, is taking a big step forward. They're upgrading their entire railway network, from the tracks to the trains themselves. This isn't just about making it easier to get from place to place. It's about using trains to cut down on pollution.

Tackling transport emissions requires a multi-faceted approach. The potential of modernised railway networks to move large volumes of people and goods with low environmental impact is immense. Norway’s transformative project includes modernising over 4,200 kilometres of track and equipping more than 400 trains with cutting-edge train control technology. This project success relies on collaboration among various stakeholders, including providers of trackside signalling, train management, and Alstom, playing a key role in integrating the intelligence onboard the trains that weave the rail network together.