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London Unveils New Driverless Subway Trains

Posted by samzenpus on from the running-on-time dept.

MikeChino writes London just unveiled its next-generation subway trains — and they're sleek, 100% automated, and WiFi-equipped. UK-based design studio Priestmangoode teamed up with Transport for London to develop the trains over a period of 3 years, and they feature open and airy interiors inspired by aviation design.

10 of 127 comments (clear)

  1. I've been wondering why this took so long by Vlado · · Score: 4, Informative

    Driverless subways exits in other cities for a while now. And this is definitely one of those things, where you can automate a lot out of a system.

    1. Re:I've been wondering why this took so long by RogueyWon · · Score: 5, Informative

      London also has driverless trains on its (more recent) Docklands Light Railway.

      The reason it's news when driverless trains head to the Tube is nothing to do with technology and everything to do with industrial relations. London's Tube Drivers are extremely militant - it's normal to have a couple of strikes per year (sometimes over "normal" industrial disputes like pay, sometimes because, I suspect, they just want to remind people they can do it).

      The current Mayor, who has been in post for around 6 years now and who is, to put it mildly, no friend of the unions, has been making threats about automation on and off ever since he was first elected. It's a dangerous game to play, because even the mention of automation is sometimes enough to trigger strikes - you can get rid of the drivers eventually (though probably keeping - lower paid - train attendants), but they can cause you a hell of a lot of pain during the transition.

    2. Re:I've been wondering why this took so long by cardpuncher · · Score: 3, Informative

      The Victoria Line has had automated train operation since it opened in 1968. All the driver does is push a button at each station to close the doors.

      It's not really a matter of technology.

      There is a safety issue in that there are no escape routes other than the unilluminated and electrified track meaning you'd need some on-board staff member to ensure that people could be safely evacuated in the event of an emergency.

    3. Re:I've been wondering why this took so long by _Shad0w_ · · Score: 3, Informative

      The Victoria, Central, Jubilee, and Northern lines all use semi-automation. It wasn't uncommon to see the driver stood up in the middle of the cab when it pulled in to a station, when I used the central line regularly; the train stops itself. I've been on a couple where it's overshot the end of the platform and they've had to skip the station and continue to the next (reversing a tube train means the driver has to get out and go to the other end - it delays the service too much, so they just won't do it).

      --

      Yeah, I had a sig once; I got bored of it.

    4. Re:I've been wondering why this took so long by pr0nbot · · Score: 4, Informative

      The point of the Economist article is that whereas previous technological shifts resulted in more but different low-skilled jobs, the current technological shift is likely to result in fewer, high-skilled jobs.

  2. Re:Aerodynamic design? by itzly · · Score: 4, Informative

    In a narrow tunnel, the train is going to act like a piston no matter what the front shape is like.

  3. Re:Well... by __Reason__ · · Score: 5, Informative

    The news is that London is getting them. Did you RTF title?

    Driverless trains have existed in London for many years, too. For example on the DLR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D...

    Several lines of the London Underground already use Automatic Train Operation (ATO), where the train is fully controlled by software under normal conditions. There is still a "Driver", but all they do is operate the doors, make passenger announcements, and are ready to take over in the case of an emergency or a system failure.

    In fact, the Victoria line has used ATO since it opened in the 1960s, and was the world's first major metro/subway line to do so.

  4. Re:Well... by operator_error · · Score: 4, Informative

    I RTFA, and London isn't getting them until 2020. And that does *not* include the Northern (i.e. Misery) Line. Progressive? More like, its about %$#@! time.

  5. Re:Aerodynamic design? by bluegutang · · Score: 3, Informative

    Because it's a higher priority to maximize the volume of the train car (i.e. more passengers), and to make the cars easily attachable to each other, than it is to slightly increase the aerodynamic efficiency of a relatively low-speed vehicle.

  6. Not driverless...yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    As I understand it, the new trains are *capable* of being driverless... meaning they can also have drivers, and the plan is for them to retain drivers, initially at least. Anyone who knows anything about the history of LU will know that the spectre of driverless trains is something the unions (the RMT particularly, personified by the late Bob Crow) have been trying to resist for years. This is a smart move by the Mayor of London and the Conservative govermnent, like it or not - I imagine that the trains will have drivers for a few years, and whenever they strike, as they inevitably will, the trains will be able to operate as normal without them - and everyone will realise the drivers are not needed. There will be years of legal wrangling and eventually those staff will get nice fat payoffs and our trains will not be able to go on strike any more (Robocop anyone?) - and everyone will be happier.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/11150671/New-driverless-tube-trains-unveiled-by-TFL.html