Is it time for self-driving trains?

Let’s first consider a political answer… “The London Underground is an extremely complex environment, in particular, deep tube lines. For reasons of safety, they are not suitable for driverless trains and there are no plans for their introduction”.
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, London Assembly, 22nd Jan 2019.

But what if driverless trains were safer in complex environments, what then?

Here’s a thought-provoking quote on disruption.
“To thrive, all businesses must focus on the art of self-disruption.  Rather than wait for the competition to steel your business, every founder and employee needs to be willing to cannibalise their existing revenue teams in order to create new ones.  All disruption starts with introspection.” Jay Samit – Author, Future Proofing You

The prompt for asking the driverless trains question came to me when reading an opinion piece on self-driving “Robotaxis” Tesla is set to launch in 2024, and the prediction that they will seriously disrupt the Uber business model.

This prompted a series of questions…

  • If a taxi can drive itself, why not a train or a plane? Surely an easier challenge.
  • How will this disrupt “public transport”?
  • Would customers prefer the tube/subway or a nice clean, safe and private self-driving taxi?
  • What happens when people figure out that self-driving taxis have a lower CO2 emissions per km than mass transport systems?
  • Could a driverless taxi be an order of magnitude (10X) more effective than existing transport solutions?

The truth is disruption is quite sneaky.  It’s happening all around us, but being human we’re distracted by other things and don’t notice, until one day something quite radical becomes the new normal.

Robotaxis are already in operation in San Francisco 24/7, today you can load the Waymo app and order a ride across town.  As for self-driving trains, some say the Docklands Light Railway was the first UK driverless train back in 1987.  Others say the Victoria line had the first fully automated trains running in 1968.  Certainly, the recently opened £18Bn Elisabeth tube trains are in the main self-driving with their Automatic Train Operations (ATO) system.

The real questions when it comes to self-driving trains or any new technology is not if it will happen, but how and when it will arrive?

Disruption is definitely a threat to those who want to protect the status quo, but there is no doubt, it is the greatest of all opportunities for those willing to embrace change and even define markets to their advantage.

I very much hope this article gave you pause for thought.  To find out how Mercury Stone’s Advance10X methodology can disrupt your business to increase performance, get in touch. Marcus