France is geared for innovation in the rail sector and the SNCF group president Guillaume Pepy expects the train drivers to work like pilots and be able to monitor journey as technology is constantly optimizing performance.
In northern France the state-run enterprise tested a circuit by driving the locomotive by a “téléconducteur” at the control centre in Lyon.
Driverless freight trains is expected to run by 2021 and the passenger trains will run on the RER network through Paris by 2023 plying at a speed of to 75mph.
The number of services to run on a line will increase from 13 to 16 per hour by 2025 as the TGV high-speed trains will be automated.
So far the SNCF and the rail unions in France share a strained industrial relation.
The staff at SNFC were on strike for three months until the end of June while the union did not respond to the latest moves on autonomous trains.
There will be further strikes on September 30 and October 1 over service problems affecting thousands of passengers.
Mick Cash , union’s general secretary mentioned that the RMT will not tolerate a position where the members will suffer due to corporate failures.
Tags: guillaume pepy, SNFC
