Japan Railway turning to AI to combat problems with snow english.kyodonews.net

West Japan Railway Co. is developing an AI system to gauge the amounts of snow attached to Hokuriku Shinkansen trains that cut through Niigata, Toyama and Ishikawa prefectures along the coast of the Sea of Japan.
Other shinkansen operators are also tackling how to deal with wind-blown snow that accumulates on the undersurface of train cars.
East Japan Railway Co. introduced new snow-melting technology in December on its Akita Shinkansen trains that connect Tokyo with Akita in the north of mainland Honshu.
Such clumps can often fall onto the tracks and then ricochet off along with gravel, damaging train cars or nearby machinery.
[Courtesy of West Japan Railway Co.]