Originally Posted by
Officer Kite
Driverless trains came out donkeys ago, yet take a trip down to any major train station and how many driverless trains do you see? I counted 0 in Euston yesterday. Train drivers aren't exactly cheap either.
My simple question is if we have barely even rolled out driverless trains and they only exist on a very small fraction of services, then how on earth are we supposed to have pilotless planes anytime soon?
Driverless trains are often cited as "proof" that pilotless airplanes are just around the corner. This ignores that there is a huge difference between the two. A train moves in only one direction ..along the track and the controls on a train are pretty simple: speed up, slow down, or apply brake. That's it. apply power or apply brake. And in every forseeable emergency situation with a train, the correct action is "apply brake". There's really no comparison with something that maneuvers freely in all 3 dimensions and can not simply stop, right now, as can a train.