I really don’t see the need to have a driver in a vehicle on rails.
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A number of light rail lines in the world are autonomous, for example the DLR in London.
The main issue that prevents the automation of heavy rail is the complexity of the railway system. The autonomous light rail systems mostly are simple two-way lines with no points or branch lines or interactions with non-autonomous vehicles.
You’d also need to install a significant amount of control equipment and remote sensing which would get ludicrously expensive for cross-country lines.
A number of light rail lines in the world are autonomous, for example the DLR in London.
The main issue that prevents the automation of heavy rail is the complexity of the railway system. The autonomous light rail systems mostly are simple two-way lines with no points or branch lines or interactions with non-autonomous vehicles.
You’d also need to install a significant amount of control equipment and remote sensing which would get ludicrously expensive for cross-country lines.
in addition to safety considerations, various rail workers unions lobby to prevent automation from eliminating jobs
in addition to safety considerations, various rail workers unions lobby to prevent automation from eliminating jobs
in addition to safety considerations, various rail workers unions lobby to prevent automation from eliminating jobs
Aaaand the real answer: cost. A train machinist is only a fraction of the total operating cost of a train, therefore making trains driverless makes little sense from a cost-saving perspective and therefore low on the priority list for buyers and manufacturers. Think about it, 1 driver can literally move thousands of people.
Aaaand the real answer: cost. A train machinist is only a fraction of the total operating cost of a train, therefore making trains driverless makes little sense from a cost-saving perspective and therefore low on the priority list for buyers and manufacturers. Think about it, 1 driver can literally move thousands of people.
Aaaand the real answer: cost. A train machinist is only a fraction of the total operating cost of a train, therefore making trains driverless makes little sense from a cost-saving perspective and therefore low on the priority list for buyers and manufacturers. Think about it, 1 driver can literally move thousands of people.
In my city the Metro trains are completely driverless and it works very well. The tracks at ground level are all fenced or raised well above street level, so no need for a driver to watch for people or dogs on the tracks. I’m in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Freight train engineers calculates the load of cargo (say coal) and determine how fast the train must go to make it up a grade (incline) of track. It is also important that they do not exceed this speed or they might have a runaway train on the downslope side.
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