You may start to hear more than your average “choo-choo” come from Japanese trains. That's because Tokyo’s Railway Technical Research Institute has developed a system that allows their trains to bark and snortat animals - specifically deer - on the tracks. The system is used as a scare tactic to avoid train-animal collisions.
And with good reason. Back in 2016, Japan set its national record for trip suspensions and delays of at least 30 minutes because of animal collisions. There were 613 cases that year.
And it might sound freaky, but apparently, this barking thing works. According to the institute, there was a 45% reduction in deer sightings from the train every 62 miles. The creators hope to officially launch the system in March of 2019.
Source: The Telegraph