ChatterBank1 min ago
Labour Have Been No Time In Office And Yet...
... they've already overseen a settlement of the rail dispute.
This must auger well for their time in office.
Agree?
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While I have no knowledge of this particular dispute, nor on running trains, what I can say is that I am unconvinced that tech today is incapable of managing a dyramic system at least as well as a human could.
It's must be a case of getting all data in on the present situation, applying the algorithms, and putting out the correct controls. Which is effectively what humans do, but in a more limited fashion, anyway.
Naturally it's sensible to have a driver too in case of tech issues, as the final arbiter, but the need to intervene must surely be rare. Heck, technology is working on self driving cars at present, and they aren't even restricted to rails.
"Labour Have Been No Time In Office And Yet..." - they have already surrendered to two different inflation busting pay claims, re-armed the unions, impoverished 10 million pensioners and moved us closer to a communist dictatorship. The Peoples republic of Britainistan is well on the way! Yep they've done wonders!
// Heck, technology is working on self driving cars at present, and they aren't even restricted to rails. //
true. but self driving cars don't take 2 miles to stop from 60mph, unlike a 600m long freight train weighing several thousand tonnes. the technology to make that work is still far too immature. Heck (as you put it), even the brand new system now being newly installed between King's Cross and Peterborough can't do that, yet.
And inflation rises already.
Labour dont understand schoolboy economics, and neither do you Sandy jusdging by your OP.
And just wait to see how Robber Reeves hammers the Pensioners again (Oh you seem to have forgotten that one Sandy)
And as for the boaters that Labour claimed to have the answer for, well where is it.
It is these other things Labour will be judged not just caving into their paymasters.
// And there are driverless trains around the World. //
yes, but it's not as common as the press would have you believe - almost exclusively on metro systems, or other "closed" networks where only a single type of train operates. no intercity network anywhere in the world is driverless - even HS2, a start-up newbuild where current union rules wouldn't apply, won't be.
bear in mind the following link is a sales pitch, but it provides a good idea where we're at. while they say the technology is available now, overlaying it on what is effectively Victorian infrastructure presents challenges that are nowhere near solution (mainly due to cost, even if the cost of drivers is factored in).
https:/
so long as the electronics know how long it takes to stop the train that's all that matters. Trains don't usually make emergency stops (they can't) so the total weight of the train can be fed into the control computer and it can calculate all stopping distances. Self-driving cars work on the same principle; when they see a hazard ahead they slow down in time to avoid heavy braking.
mushroom; //do you have practical experience of train driving?//
No, but I once had a studio in Lexington KY. right next to a freight train rail track and they sure don't move at 60mph. That's why hobos can jump on and off them when the trains are moving.
And common sense tells me they don't need 2 miles to stop. Perhaps you're thinking of giant oil tankers at sea.
"Driving a train is a lot harder than people imagine."
Indeed it is and some of the remarks on here show an astonishing lack of knowledge. It is a highly responsible job requiring considerable skill and knowledge and drivers deserve their salary.
But they should also accept changes to working practices, many of which date from pre-nationalisiation (1948) days. They are paid well and should adapt their work to meet the needs of the service.
The last government was determined to see that they did and all the pay offers were conditional on changes to those practices. The rail strikes, whilst inconvenient, were not so disastrous as they once were. Many of the people who previously used trains to get to work five or six days a week no longer do so. It was quite obvious the new government was going to cave in to any demands that were made because that is what Labour governments do. The railways attract huge subsidies from the government and any increase in their costs will impact on public spending and hence on inflation.
When morgages and loans remain at the curren normal rates of interest (or even increase) those who voted for "change" would do well to dwell on what sort of change they have ushered in. It's one of the lessons to be learned by those who have not see it before.
"It's must be a case of getting all data in on the present situation, applying the algorithms, and putting out the correct controls."
Designing a driverless train system is not a problem. There were driverless train trials on the London Underground in the early 1960s prior to it being introduced on the new Victoria line. London's Dockland's Light Railway is fully driverless as are a number of other parts of the Underground. But, as mushroom poins out, these are largely self-contained systems with a single train type operating identical services.
The problems come from designing a system which will cater for the various types of trains that use the national rail system (and finding the money to instal it).
"Heck, technology is working on self driving cars at present, and they aren't even restricted to rails."
Leaving aside that driverless cars are not properly working (and are probably unlikely ever to do so in any volume) they do not require every mile of the infrastructure that they use to be adaptated for their use. The technology is only required in the vehicle.
Then there is, of course, the small matter of getting the trade unions to agree to the changes. They won't even agree to seven day rotas so I hardly feel they will agree to technology which will throw many of them out of a job.
Khandro,
"vulcan; //A driver must, on a foggy night know exactly, even though they cant see a thing, where to start slowing for the next station. //.
I learnt that from a documentary made during the pandemic and shown on YouTube, the man who made it is a train driver, I would like to think he knew what he was talking about. Why would he mention it if it wasn't relevant or accurate?
What an absolute dreamworld you live in sandyRoe if you think this will (or has already by your words) get the trains running on time agaon. Yes there have been odd strike days but my line for example - southwestern railways - has delays and cancellations pretty much daily and it's nothing to do with strikes - things on the line, point failures, signal failures, you name it. God even I could solve strikes by caving in and giving everyone masses of pay rises. Everyone will join the list if they have any sense. Pathetic.
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