Driverless Operation Solutions

This article examines the possibilities for driverless operation of high-speed trains in Spain. The author, a rolling stock technical director for Renfe, suggests that unattended train operation in high-speed environments could be possible in the future, but that changes would have to be adopted first. The author describes the signaling systems that support the use of automatic train protection as the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), the driving modes of the Spanish high-speed rail, and aspects of high-speed environments compared to those of driverless systems. He also suggests there is a psychological effects on passengers of driverless operation of high-speed rail.