Oh we're doing the 'driverless trains' thing too are we? Sorry, but now you're on @lonrec home territory. Here we go. /1 https://twitter.com/SolWpolski/status/1003201639849910273

So the first thing you should always do when someone says the phrase 'driverless trains' - commentator or politician - is ask them what they actually mean by that phrase. /2

Because here's the thing - on it's own it DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING. It's like saying 'I have a computer'. What type? Mac or PC? Laptop or Desktop? It's a generic phrase. /3

So how are we defining 'Driverless'? Because if it's 'the person in the cab is generally supervising, rather than controlling speed/stopping' then that's ALREADY in place across many parts of the network. /4

Indeed some of the works that are causing these issues in the UK on the Network Rail side are aimed at facilitating that. Down here in London, Crossrail (which is really a big-boy railway pretending to be a Metro for a bit) will run this way through its core too from Dec 2018 /5

It's also not new technology. The Victoria line has used a variant on this approach since the sixties. And MOST of the Underground is run this 'driverless' way now.

You will have noticed that despite this the Underground still has one or two strikes. /6

And that's really the thing here. The reason NO ONE in the industry uses the word 'driverless' is because it's an ideological term, not a logistical one. People mostly mean 'UNMANNED'. Because it's about 'breaking unions'.

And there are solid reasons why that is impractical /7

To have an UNMANNED railway anywhere in the UK you need:

- Minimal interaction with other lines (i.e. low system complexity)
- Modern signalling and rolling stock
- COMPLETE separation of the platform from line (i.e. platform edge doors)
- Clear escape paths in tunnels /8

All these are critical because without them there is a safety risk to passengers. That's not 'union speak' - that's the results of multiple pragmatic, non-ideological reports by the industry and regulators in the UK, EU and beyond over many years. /9

If you DON'T have those things then you have to put someone on the train, in case things go wrong - whether to help passengers or pilot the train in 'safe mode' during disruption.

And if you think that doesn't result in strikes, then DLR commuters would like a word with you /10

"no no no I meant the other driverless. i'm happy with people on the train!" you say.

Well that's fine, but remember those other conditions still exist. And pretty much the ONLY place they ever exist is on ENTIRELY NEW infrastructure. /11

That's why most examples of 'driverless' people cite are in places like India or China - because they're new build. And the one thing most UK railway lines aren't (ya know, because we LITERALLY invented this who railway thing like over a century ago) is new build lines. /12

On new UK lines that's built in: remember Crossrail. But that's not going to CHANGE the existing railway. Certainly not without a level of unprecedented investment and disruption.

And the people who shout 'driverless' are normally against that kind of state intervention /13

The railway requires people to run it. Jobs change. Drivers become operators or captains (DLR). But PEOPLE will always be there. Because humans trying to move often require help from other humans. There is no such thing as an unmanned railway. /14

The industry knows this. The unions know this. They may occasionally argue over the demarcation line between what travellers need and what they don't, but no one who works or deals with this stuff sees the railways as anything other than a series of human interactions. /15

So whenever someone says the words 'driverless trains' to you ask what they mean. It is the Brexity Irish Border question of the railways. The act of defining the problem immediately reveals the impracticality of the solution. /16

And if a politician of ANY ideology puts 'driverless' in a manifesto then see it as a warning: because it shows they haven't done their working out on transport.

And if they haven't done it on transport, one of things that affects us MOST - then what else haven't they done? /17

Again, we've written about 'driverless' in a metro context many times. Some links here:

Vic as fastest metro in the world:

https://www.londonreconnections.com/2017/ninety-second-railway-making-victoria-frequent-metro-world/

And picking apart the driverless myth:

https://www.londonreconnections.com/2014/new-tube-london-driverless-train-driver/

https://www.londonreconnections.com/2014/driverless-trains-piccadilly/

And we're on Twitter here: @lonrec /18

Hope that helps. Now if y'all excuse me I've got lego to play with #noadultingonasunday /END

ADDENDUM: It has rightly been pointed out I should have said uncrewed. Sorry. Old habits are hard to break and Twitter doesn't allow edits.