Occasions when driverless trains can cause fewer problems
Christian Wolmar is correct in saying that so-called driverless trains are being proposed on economic grounds, as well as reducing the bargaining power of unions ( RAIL 924).
But he is incorrect to say that removing human on-board drivers would have no benefits for passengers. Passengers really do suffer because of the need for drivers. Each case is small, but in aggregate they are considerable.
If the network were fully automated and run in a way that maximised the passenger experience, then it would be a game changer for rail travel. Of course, we are 50 years away from network-wide automation, or even remote control of in-service passenger trains.
Take my local station - Cambridge North. In one year, there were 13 occasions when Great Northern drivers forgot that they were driving an eight-car train. They pulled up at the four-car stop, leaving four carriages beyond the platform.
The solution chosen by the railway was not to ensure drivers knew what they were doing, but to stop all trains at the eight-car stop sign, resulting in passengers at some trains having to walk further to and from the train entirely without the protection of any canopy.
Since December 2020, almost all trains are now eight carriages. But the four-car ones still stop furthest away, and this has now been introduced at Waterbeach station as well.
New infrastructure cannot be used until enough drivers have been trained to use it. Previously, eight-car trains passed Waterbeach’s extended (but not in use) platforms without stopping.
Because of COVID-19 the ‘necessary’ training was extremely limited. But where a route is fully automated, enhancements can be introduced overnight, following certification.
Passengers will also have suffered cancelled trains on numerous occasions because there was not a driver available, which can be for numerous reasons. I’ve also had to wait for a driver to have their rest break.
I’ve travelled on six Grade of Automation Level 4 metro systems (Budapest, Copenhagen, Lausanne, Lille, Paris and Nuremburg). I’ve not experienced disruption on any of them. The Copenhagen metro even has the ability to meet additional demand by bringing trains into service from any siding on the system, because it doesn’t need to get a driver there.
Passengers want on-board staff to provide customer service and reassurance. But technology in other countries, and hopefully in Britain one day, will provide a superior service by using humans and computers for what each is best suited to.