Brian Coleman Calls For Driverless Tube Trains

By Jesse_Custer | Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 11:42

An interesting idea has been suggested recently and was last week backed by Brian Coleman, Assembly member for Camden and Barnet. The original proposal suggested that the improvements currently under-way on the Northern Line could include driverless technology.

The London Underground

It's a controversial idea, but I get the impression that it's being considered. Brian Coleman has backed it, his argument on the The Times being that 'it would result in a faster, more efficient service'. He also points out that 'it would also break the stranglehold of the RMT union', something those of us who use public transport in London would have felt at some point or another.

The trains would still require a member of staff to operate the doors (much like the Docklands Light Railway), but needless to say, the proposal has angered unions who naturally are concerned about the loss of jobs, and who also claim that driverless trains would be unsafe.

So how do the general public feel about this? Would we be happy with driverless trains on the Northern line or is this going too far too soon?

Photo courtesy of realSMILEY

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Comments

The novelty definitely wore off on the DLR... Which is also hugely unreliable...

By CastleRadio at 10:31 on 23/06/10
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Wait, seriously? This thing filters out bug_gered?

By kirjava at 13:36 on 22/06/10
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Positives: TECHNOLOGY IS AWESOME. They've got driverless underground in parts of France, and it's pretty cool being able to sit at the front of the train and watch where it goes.

Negatives: TECHNOLOGY IS TERRIFYING AND UNRELIABLE. If the AI goes rogue everyone on the train is ******ed. Slightly more realistically, the more complex the thing you rely on, the more screwed you are when it breaks down. Which it will. Because this is Britain. On top of this, I can't imagine laying off EVEN MORE people is going to do our economy any good.

And I suspect the novelty of sitting at the front of the train might wear off after a while.

By kirjava at 13:32 on 22/06/10
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I have one argument against this and it's mentioned in this article. The DLR. It's inefficient and every time I go on there it breaks down. Maybe that's just me and I'm cursed but I'm hesitant about driverless technology because of this...

On the flip-side though, or course the unions are concerned. Drivers won't be needed anymore. If it works on the Northern Line then it'll only be 20 years before drivers are obsolete on all of the lines. Then the union loses all power. It's not going to take much training to do announcements and open and close doors...

By Simon__Lee at 11:50 on 22/06/10
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