The future of train driving

[Economist]

However, with Boris now looking a dead cert to be PM for however long he wants, it does very slightly up the risk of driverless. Remember he hates train drivers and tried (unsuccessfully admittedly) to make the Tube fully driverless whilst London mayor.
Before current circumstances I had assumed Boris would be sent packing in 2025 and with it any chance of doing away with train drivers for ideological reasons, however now, it looks like Boris will likely have 10 years or longer if he wants it to try and fulfil his vision. I only hope this wave of Boris love wares off once he is fully recovered and up and running, but I have a fumnynfeeling he will go down in history in the same breath as Churchill, such is the quirkiness of the British public......

The voters decided in 1945 that whilst Churchill the right person for the job in wartime, Citizen Clem was a better choice for the post-war era. They hadn't forgotten the 1930's and punished the Tories as a whole for their policy of appeasement before the war. Maybe the voters will see parallels with COVID-19 and austerity?

Personally, I think the driving grade will remain for a while yet. ATO on the DLR and was straightforward because it was a brand new system being built from scratch. It's much easier to implement ATO in such an environment than having to try and do it whilst trains are running. The tubes lines have far fewer points/junctions and each one line generally has one type of train, so a lot of the work I would say is simpler than the mainline.

 

[irish_rail]

The voters decided in 1945 that whilst Churchill the right person for the job in wartime, Citizen Clem was a better choice for the post-war era. They hadn't forgotten the 1930's and punished the Tories as a whole for their policy of appeasement before the war. Maybe the voters will see parallels with COVID-19 and austerity?

Personally, I think the driving grade will remain for a while yet. ATO on the DLR and was straightforward because it was a brand new system being built from scratch. It's much easier to implement ATO in such an environment than having to try and do it whilst trains are running. The tubes lines have far fewer points/junctions and each one line generally has one type of train, so a lot of the work I would say is simpler than the mainline.

I think the voters of 1945 where a rather more sensible lot than we are today if I'm honest. I Think 15 years of Tories is pretty inevitable now, certainly 10.

 

[Efini92]

You’ll be safe. They can’t even fix the draughts in the cab, it’s unlikely we’ll see any driverless trains on the mainline in this century