Boston "driverless" subway train

[bikkuri bahn]

A T train that coasted through four Red Line stations without a driver on board Thursday morning likely left Braintree Station unmanned after an operator error occurred, according to Stephanie Pollack, secretary and chief executive of the Department of Transportation.

About 50 passengers were aboard the driverless train when it left Braintree Station at about 6 a.m., traveling past North Quincy Station until transit officials de-powered the third rail and brought it to a halt. The MBTA, along with Transit Police, the Department of Public Utilities, and the Federal Transit Administration, are continuing to investigate the incident and the operator has been placed on administrative leave.

 

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2015/12/10/mbta-train-left-braintree-station-without-driver/GoNFzDgUJDVkbLct1INlIJ/story.html

[katoftw]

I blame him.

 

[kvp]

One of the reasons to use throttles with dead man safety and de power the 3rd rail behind every stop signal. Also in case of signal system failiure, at least two persons should be present in every cab. I just wonder why didn't any of the passengers just pull the emergency brake after the first missed station.

[velotrain]

 I just wonder why didn't any of the passengers just pull the emergency brake after the first missed station.

 

It was 6 AM - they were still asleep or noses buried in their newspapers.

[Guest Closed Account 1]

Wasn't Google autonomous? You'd think subways would be first for these experiments.

[kvp]

There are many automatic subways around the world and some of the earliest ones are half a century old. In this case even the most basic safety systems were missing or were overridden.

 

The safety systems i mentioned were installed in the first fully electric subway back in the 19th century. There was a good report in the local tv a few years ago where they were showing one of the original 1896 cars that is still operational and the driver showed how the safety system works by trying to run a red signal and the old electromechanical system was still fully operational. The line has been restored and extended but the old sections are mostly in the original condition including some operational museum stock. The then unusual safety system was required as one man operation was a very new thing in the 19th century.