06-17-2009, 07:05 PM
eightyeightfan1 Wrote:I don't think that trains will be totally crew less. It'd be hard for a dispatcher to make an emergency stop from a thousand miles away(As if its easier with someone in the cab). I don't think the government will allow a total autonomous of trains, and public out cry would prevent it from happening. Though the technology is here and now, the human factor will never go away. Even deep space probes, need the human touch, and supervision.
When I was going to A&P(Airframe and Power plant) school, thirty years ago, airliners could be taken off, fly, and land, all by a computer program.(We see that today in the UCAS aircraft the military uses) The pilots are just baby sitters, and after what happen back in January in New York, I'm sure there are 151 people glad there was someone sitting in the front seat.
I can't remember where I read it, but there's a future scenario that goes something like this: There will be a machine, a man, a stool, and a dog. The machine will do the job, the man will sit on the stool and watch, and the dog will bite the man if the man tries to touch the machine...
As for a crewless train, the Germans are working on it: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www-nbp.uni-paderborn.de/index.php?id=30&L=1">http://www-nbp.uni-paderborn.de/index.php?id=30&L=1</a><!-- m --> You simply go to the internet and order whatever vehicle you need for freight or passenger, and it is sent to you. Computer control in the vehicles allow them to "work" together on the rails.
Andrew