[jhy]

And that one driver now carries all the responsibility. To automate them out, you need 100% accuracy which closes in on impossible to achieve. Any lack of perfection would be down to the automator. So it's a very scary piece to take on when there's no human in the loop left to hold the bag when something goes wrong.

[bluGill]

Computers are more accurate than humans in a number of the things that matter for trains.

As the other poster said, the main need for humans is to fix mechanical problems. If the door jams, unjam it (why can't passengers use a different door or figure out how to unjam it>) If someone is having a heart attack do CPR until medical crew arrives, then stop the train until the medical crew is off (central dispatch can teach anyone CPR over the phone and stop the train). If someone is attacked - stop the the attack (unless you are a trained police office you will probably make the situation worse trying to stop an attack)

In short there actually isn't that much that a human can do that a computer cannot do better.

[notahacker]

> In short there actually isn't that much that a human can do that a computer cannot do better.

Passengers fixing their own doors and responding to their own emergency alarms doesn't fit most people's definitions of "better". Hence why even though train automation has been possible for decades, most trains and especially most trains travelling long distances aren't.

[MaxBarraclough]

> To automate them out, you need 100% accuracy which closes in on impossible to achieve.

I don't follow. As Animats indicated, there are already plenty of autonomous trains that work fine.

[Gare]

Those are usually "closed" systems, that don't have to deal with unpredictable events that often.

[edrxty]

And in non closed systems the set of problems that prevent fully autonomous cars is the same set of problems that prevens fully autonomous trains, ie, recognizing shit getting into the lane of travel but not panic braking for random trash.

[bluGill]

If there is something on the track the only option is hitting it. You cannot switch track (even if there is a switch on the tracks, it can't safely operate in time) You can hit the brakes, but your braking distance is so long that you won't be able to slow down much before you hit it.