Some cities already have driverless subways. Rail would be much simpler to automate than roads.
With all this computer hacking going on like it did for that oil pipeline a few weeks back, a nationwide system of self-driving trucks seems like asking for trouble. If we did have automated trains, they should have a manual mode so vital supplies aren't disrupted in case of a hack. Even a simple automated mode that took the train no further then the next station (where it could be re-set and sent to the next station) would work. Local drivers could take it from there.
However, I'm not so sure automated trains are even required as a train can have 100's of cars in it, and 2 or 3 people can operate the whole thing. That would be the equivalent of 100's of licensed semi drivers. If you're already moving 1000's of tons of cargo, the wage cost for the train crew is only a fraction of the shipping cost.
The big drawback is rail logistics are not as speedy as those for road trucks. I don't see a lot of carriers promising 48-hour delivery signing up for rail mode. If someone could introduce road truck timeliness and responsiveness into a rail system, it would be tough to beat.
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