FTMC Automatic Departure System Enters Service on the Kokona-Natsu Line

On July 14, 2024, every station on Maki Railway's Kokona-Natsu Line, except Midori Bridge Station, was equipped with the FTMC automatic departure system. Let's take a look! The orange blocks are automatic departure devices. An arriving train stops automatically and departs after a short wait, with a departure bell sounding beforehand. The purple blocks are directional devices that provide an arriving train with initial acceleration, up to approximately 50 km/h. Directional devices are also installed at the other end of the station. They prevent trains from running in reverse and slow arriving trains down to approximately 50 km/h.

At the same time, Mihua and Froststar stations on Maki Metro's Hoshie Line and Korikos Transport's Sunrise Plains Loop are being merged and renovated. During the construction, the Mihua–Broken Cloud Industrial Park section of the Sunrise Plains Loop is suspended, and loop trains turn back at Mihua Station. The FTMC automatic departure system has also helped with this renovation. The automatic departure devices enable trains to turn back before the station automatically: a train from Sunset Heights arrives at Mihua Station through the tunnel, waits for 10 seconds, then departs in the opposite direction back to Sunset Heights.