Last month, the Dutch railroad Prorail announced that it will soon conduct test runs of new driverless freight trains on its run between Rotterdam and the German city of Emmerich.
If successful, the self-driving trains could mark a new era in automated freight transportation in Europe. But the move comes not without controversy.
The European rail line that the driverless trains will be tested on does not intersect with any commuter rail traffic, eliminating the risk that a computer malfunction could cause a deadly train accident.
US Wants More Train Drivers, Not Less
While Europe moves ahead with the experimental driverless freight trains, lawmakers in the US are debating whether to require more railroad employees on every freight train to increase safety, rather than eliminating train operators altogether.
In June, the Federal Railroad Administration proposed that at least two operators be onboard every freight train operating in the US. The proposed requirement comes after North American railroads already have invested more than $10 billion in electronics and other remote oversight equipment that allows more railroads to be more aware of where its trains are at all times.
Congress mandated that railroads invest in the remote oversight equipment after a horrific 2008 accident in Southern California in which a freight train collided with a crowded commuter train, killing 25 people. A recent collision of two Burlington Northern Sante Fe freight trains in Texas killed two crew members.
Railroads Claim Double Standard
Some US railroad officials are crying “foul” for the two-operator requirement, citing recent announcements by the National Highway Safety Transportation Administration that it plans to spend $3.9 billion over the next ten years to develop technology that could allow for driverless trucks on the nation’s highways.
Ed Hamburger, president of the Association of American Railroads, recently complained to Bloomberg News that the two-operator requirement for freight trains gave the trucking industry an unfair advantage over railroads.
Driverless Trains Already in Use
Some trains already are operating without any human operators. The Rio Tinto PLC, a mining company in Australia, already is experimenting with driverless trains on lines operating within its massive holdings in that country’s interior, although that experiment recently has experienced some setbacks.
In Germany, the rail company Deutsche Bahn is planning on introducing both driverless freight and passenger trains by 2021.
In New Delhi, India, driverless subway trains have been transporting passengers since May. And operators of the London underground have stated they plan to operate driverless trains in that city’s “tube” system by 2020.