Next stop – driverless

By 2030, up to 80% of the tram fleets in Russia’s two capitals could be using driverless technology. Konstantin Pashkov, First Deputy Minister of Transport of Russia, announced the new target for the country’s two largest tram networks at the International Youth Festival. As Vedomosti. Severo-Zapad reports, driverless trams with no one in the cab are due to enter service on public roads by 2030. In Moscow, the technology has already moved beyond test routes and is operating in regular passenger service.

The capital’s first fully driverless tram began carrying passengers in September 2025 on route No. 10 in Strogino. According to Interfax, four such vehicles were operating in the city by March 2026; their number is due to reach 15 by the end of the year and approximately 350 by 2030, accounting for two-thirds of Moscow’s tram fleet.

The autonomous system handles the entire journey: it recognises traffic light signals, switches points, stops at tram stops and keeps to the timetable. Navigation relies on high-precision digital maps, cameras, lidar and other sensors, which allow the tram to find its way through a complex urban environment.

St Petersburg is following a similar path, but is relying first and foremost on its own testing and engineering facilities. Since 2024, the city has been taking part in an experimental legal regime for highly automated rail transport; in spring 2026, four sections of the street network were designated for testing new systems. In September, an engineering centre opened in St Petersburg to work on onboard electronics, tram automation and dispatching solutions. At the same time, the authorities have supported the creation of the country’s first dedicated test centre for autonomous trams.

Today, some 350 ‘smart’ trams equipped with AI systems are already in service on urban routes, helping to reduce the risk of accidents and monitor conditions along the track. This does not yet mean dispensing with the driver entirely, but rather a gradual transition from assistive systems to a higher degree of autonomy.

By this logic, the tram becomes a convenient urban laboratory for driverless transport. Its route is predictable and its infrastructure clearly defined, yet the environment remains entirely real – complete with traffic lights, pedestrians, junctions, interchanges and heavy traffic. This is precisely why Moscow and St Petersburg can refine autonomous technologies not on a closed test track, but directly within everyday city traffic.