Germany: Self-driving cabs on rails can be ordered like taxis via app

The self-driving cab is designed to increase mobility in rural areas and protect the environment at the same time (image: MonoCab)

MonoCab is a self-driving train cab that can be ordered like a taxi via an app and does not require a driver. With its sustainable design and ability to run two cabs on one track, this innovative transport offers a promising alternative to driving, especially in rural areas.

Nicole Dominikowski (translated by Nicole Dominikowski), Published 02/14/2024 🇩🇪 🇨🇳 ...

The MonoCab is a self-driving cabin on rails. Unlike conventional trains, which run according to a fixed timetable, the compact MonoCab can be ordered 24/7, 365 days a year, simply by using an app on your mobile phone. The passenger will then be picked up at the location of their choice.

The operation is similar to that of a taxi, but without a driver in the small cab. Two MonoCabs can be used in parallel in different directions, as the MonoCab with its sustainable design also runs on a single track. This is because the MonoCab is a gyro-stabilised monorail: Thanks to gyro technology (a fast-rotating gyro system for active position control by maintaining angular momentum), it balances on just one rail of a normal railway track.

MonoCab has been redesigned by the design team at the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences

This has the potential to improve mobility in rural areas and be a viable alternative to the car, while at the same time reducing the impact on the environment. The research project also aims to create an "individual public transport" system that reuses thousands of kilometres of disused railway lines.

The project, which involves several universities and various partners such as Landeseisenbahn Lippe e. V., is still in progress. On a disused railway line in the sparsely populated region of Ostwestfalen-Lippe, where there is hardly any public transport, the innovative means of transport is being tested. The planned trial operation on the Extertalbahn is scheduled to start in 2028.

MonoCab Owl is funded as part of the implementation of the Operational Programme of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in Nordrhein-Westfalen for the period 2014-2020 with co-financing from the Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport of the State of Nordrhein-Westfalen.