Transport for London (TfL) has dropped its investigation into how it could introduce driverless trains on the London Underground.
New Piccadilly line train on test tracks in Germany (c) ianVisits
One of the many conditions imposed on TfL during the pandemic to keep services running when most of us were stuck at home was that it would investigate how it could introduce driverless trains on the Underground. TfL was required to produce a business case for converting the Waterloo & City line and Piccadilly line to a DLR-style operation, and in September 2021, it advertised for consultancy work on the project.
It’s now been confirmed that the study reached the same conclusion that every other study into the issue has already reported — it’ll cost an awful lot of money for very little benefit.
Despite the claims that it would prevent strikes on the tube, the reality is that it wouldn’t, as driverless trains would still have staff on board, just as the DLR does, and the DLR still has strikes.
The main benefit of driverless trains is capacity, as the computerised control systems can allow trains to run closer together, which increases passenger capacity on the railway. However, modern signalling systems are now able to push tube lines pretty close to the theoretical maximum they could reach anyway, so the cost of a signalling upgrade to driverless control would be a huge outlay for a negligible increase in capacity.
In fact, one of the reasons why you wouldn’t be able to increase train frequency any more isn’t the trains, but the stations. If the trains run more often, then you need to increase the capacity of the platforms and corridors to absorb the extra people using the station.
At a bare minimum, platform edge doors also need to be added to every station, which would reduce the platform width. However, this wouldn’t be possible at every station, such as those shared between the Piccadilly and District lines in west London, without massive rebuilding work of the stations.
However, despite all the facts being known, the previous government insisted on another study into the issue.
In a written answer, the Mayor of London has now confirmed that work by the Department for Transport (DfT) with TfL technical input concluded that introducing driverless trains would cost billions of pounds on each line.
Yes, that’s billions per line.
That’s tens of billions for the entire Underground.
Learning from other metros around the world, particularly Paris, which provided input into the work, the study concluded that the most practicable way of converting a line to driverless operation would be for it to coincide with the introduction of new rolling stock, signalling and platform edge doors at the same time as part of a line upgrade.
That’s why it would be so staggeringly expensive to introduce.
On that basis, the Mayor said that it was agreed with the DfT that the work shouldn’t be progressed any further.
Of course, people will still argue for driverless trains. However, spending tens of billions of pounds upgrading the railway to save maybe at most £100 million a year in the wage bill would be a remarkable waste of money.
It would take centuries to pay off the cost.
