"Cast_Iron" wrote in message
...
Ed Crowley wrote:
Computers are better at driving trains than humans. Also,
having a member of staff on every platform has to be
cheaper than staff on some platforms plus a driver on every
train. Why couldn't the platform staff be trained to
fix/drive trains in an emergency? It would make their jobs
more interesting and varied to boot ...

Technically, you may be correct. However there is one fundamental point
invariably overlooked by proponents of such courses of action. "People
like
people", i.e. passengers like to know there is someone on hand to deal
with
a situation as it arises. IIRC when the Victoria Line was being planned
and
built the tyechnology would have allowed driverless trains. The system you
propose is feasible on the DLR. It is the human factor that keeps a member
of staff actually on the train.

IMO it's better to have visible staff on every platform than locked away at
the front of the train.