Taiwan HSR driver falls asleep during train operation

Poorly worded article, can be either interpreted as train crew taking over driving, or CTC staff taking over using "automatic systems". I assume first case. I am surprised the ATC didn't kick in and stop the train, I suppose there were no changes in cab signal indications during the "somnolent" interval.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... D0oM0HGSXg

UPDATE:
A better, more detailed article. Mention is made of an "auto-pilot" system. I have never heard of this. Anyone else have?

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/nati ... erator.htm

The driver pressed the dead-man's-switch button when he heard the alarm going off -- twice. That would have kept the train going. Some train staff members discovered that he was in a semiconscious state. It turned up that he had taken some sleeping pills in an effort to cope with a sleeping disorder.

That driver's somnolence happened while the train was traveling from Chiayi to Taichung, in Yunlin County, about halfway in between. The Chiayi - Taichung distance is about 92.2 km by highway, and at the train's speed of 298 km/hr would have taken about 20 minutes.

A map of the system is at Taiwan High Speed Rail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - I used http://maps.google.com for highway distances.