Peter Frimberley wrote:

On Mon, 16 Oct 2006 15:16:30 +0100, asdf
wrote:

On Mon, 16 Oct 2006 15:01:14 +0100, Martin Underwood wrote:

So, how long until the first lift collision, if cars are able to move
independently in the same shaft, one wonders?

But that "can't happen" because there's "A sophisticated computer program
and sensors [which] monitor the location of the cars and prevents cars still
in motion from crashing into cars that have stopped to accommodate
passengers."

Yeah, right. Would you trust it?

Ever been on the DLR? Did you trust it?

A better analogy would be "Ever been on the Victoria Line? Did you
trust it?", since that is a "closed system" just like this lift shaft
would be. So, minimal outside interference like rain changing stopping
distances or yobs putting concrete on the track. The lift shaft can
have sensors on any maintenance doors that can shut it down if anyone
has entered the working areas and possibly interfered. Therefore it
becomes an extremely easy task to write the program for and thoroughly
test, because you can work out all the possible outcomes and program
and test for them.

So I would certainly trust it.

It doesn't make any difference to your argument but I was just
wondering how many Victoria line passengers are aware their trains are
being driven automatically - I suspect it's really not that many.