海角大神

Soon, stepping onto a Delhi Metro train in India could mean taking a ride controlled entirely automatically, with no operator onboard.

The Delhi Metro Corporation 鈥撀爓hich operates one of the world鈥檚 largest systems, 鈥撀爑nveiled its plans for an automated train on Wednesday.

For their first year, human operators will control the trains, fitted with cameras and sensors to take the place of a driver, .

鈥淲e can expect to travel in a driverless train by the end of next year," said Mangu Singh, managing director of the government-funded system, at a news conference Wednesday. 鈥淭he trains will be controlled from operation centers, and a strict watch will be maintained over their running.鈥�

While the move toward driverless cars in the US has progressed slowly, with companies citing regulatory tangles and lawmakers pointing to safety concerns, many parts of the world already offer fully or partially autonomous public transportation.

鈥淭racks 鈥撀爀specially dedicated tracks 鈥撀燼re an important simplifier that automated road vehicles don't enjoy,鈥� says Bryant Walker Smith, an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, who studies the technology, in an email to 海角大神.

But transit workers say the impact on jobs, and on services provided to riders, could be significant.

"If they鈥檙e talking about automating the systems and removing the personnel, that works in a perfect place like in Disneyland, where the worst thing that can be happen is you can be late for your ride or for your Belgian waffle," says Lawrence Hanley, international president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents workers in the US and Canada.

"But if they do it on a subway where people are really commuting to and from their work and their schools," he continues, "they expose the public to anything to anybody might do on that train with absolutely nobody in charge." Transit workers often serve as first responders when emergencies occur, he says.

While fully automated trains operated on only 6 percent of the world鈥檚 total railway transit length in 2013, , several large systems, including the Copenhagen Metro, lines in Vancouver, S茫o Paulo, Dubai, Paris, Seoul and parts of Italy and Japan can all聽.

Honolulu has also 聽the first major automated system in the US. Professor Smith also points to the use of automated trains at airports around the world, including in many major US cities.

Proponents point to a ,聽including making trains more reliable, providing between 4 and 6 percent more room for passengers, and improving the spacing between trains 鈥撀爇nown as headway 鈥撀爐hat can improve the experience for riders waiting on the platform for the next train.

The Delhi Metro鈥檚 move to fully automated trains, which will be rolled out over the course of the year, is expected to accommodate 40 more passengers in a car, along with additional accommodations for people with disabilities.

To maintain safety, the Delhi Metro will have an obstruction deflection device that can push away small obstacles on the track and three CCTV cameras that can be viewed by operators in a central control room, .

The new cars will also boast USB ports, LED screens with an interactive route map, and聽Wi-Fi access 鈥撀爓hich the Indian government has pushed for at railway stations across the country, Mr. Singh said. They鈥檙e also expected to reduce the system's energy consumption, the Times reports.

Last year, the Imperial College researchers surveyed 23 highly-automated systems, and found that two of the systems with the highest frequency of trains 鈥撀�42 every hour 鈥撀爓ere both fully automated.

They say that switching to fully automated trains could save up to 70 percent of staffing costs, potentially allowing train operators to focus on improving their operations.

But transit workers point to the unpredictable nature of situations many transit systems encounter.

In London, Mayor Boris Johnson has been engaged in a , who have protested working conditions in a series of strikes, most recently this summer.

But Mr. Johnson has stood by his promise that the Underground 鈥撀爓hich already includes some partially automated trains 鈥撀爓ill introduce .

In 2012, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transit Workers, the country鈥檚 largest transit union, protested a trial of automated trains on the Underground鈥檚 Jubilee line,

A leaked transit agency document suggests that despite Johnson鈥檚 promise, the new trains won鈥檛 be driverless until a decade later.

Mr. Hanley, of the transit union, says that training a computer to learn to anticipate unusual situations or an emergency is as much a challenge for a train as for a self-driving car, leading to potential safety concerns for passengers and workers.

"As you start to get dogs running across the track, or big rats like they have in New York, or fires, a human being is prepared for the unexpected and knows how to respond. Computers have to see the same situation again and again before they鈥檙e actually trained to respond to that," he says.

But Smith argues those changes come with the territory. He draws a contrast with autopilot systems on planes, which 鈥撀� 鈥撀燼re not designed to fly planes at all times or replace pilots.

鈥淥f course these systems change the number and nature of transit jobs. Every significant technological development has employment implications,鈥� he says.