The autonomous vehicle trend is becoming more and more popular in several countries, and while some manufacturers have taken part in a self-driving Truck challenge, a German railway company named Deutsche Bahn is looking into adding autonomous cars to its mass transit network. These vehicles would help people travel to and from the train station, but the company is also looking into competing with the likes of Uber in order to ensure transportation in urban areas where trains could not get the job done. According to Deutsche Bahn chief, Rüdiger Grube, the railway “will, with certainty, operate driverless cars in the future,” even though an exact timeline for this has not yet been revealed.
It’s true that self-driving cars are impressive, but since we’re talking about a railway here, Deutsche Bahn, also wants to automate train operation. This project would allow trains to be instructed remotely while a computer would take care of actually operating them. Grube has also stated that “in one or two decades, trains could be controlled from the operations center,” which means that becoming a train conductor will require a different skill set. It will certainly be difficult to create a fully automated multi-modal transit system, but it’s probably just a matter of time before it will become a reality.
