On Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:26:38 +0000 (UTC)
Peter Campbell Smith wrote:
implemented. Your solution would give the occasional false alarm (eg on
rusty rails) which *might* be as dangerous as the very occasional
derailment.

True.


On the whole, humans are much better and often faster at detecting
'something's not quite right' than technology, though that's not a reason
to be complacent.

What happens if theres no human in charge though? I'm thinking of various
completely automated systems such as Line 14 in Paris & various VAL systems
around France. Could a derailment (or whatever you call it on rubber tyred
systems) happen on them without power being lost? If the DLR was run in the
same way and no one in charge was on board we'd probably be looking at a
very nasty accident.

B2003