Technology is now pushing the driverless envelope; the New Tube for London trains designed by Siemens — and due to roll out from 2025 — have fully driverless capability, but again, will be manned by a train captain at all times.
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Current status. Partially-automated trains are used on eight lines: (Victoria, Jubilee, Central, Northern, District, Circle, Hammersmith and City, Metropolitan).
One that's guaranteed to happen is that a new Elizabeth line station will be built in west London, at the Old Oak Common interchange with HS2, which is due to open in 2029-33. The core tunnels are also designed to handle up to 32 trains per hour — compared to the 24 trains per hour that'll be in service from this May.
Is the Elizabeth line making money? TfL's Finance Report Period 7, 2022/23 says “Journeys on the Elizabeth line (EL) have been above expectations since the opening of full services on 24 May. Journeys are 20 million better than Budget in the year to date, with income £29m higher than expected.
Yes, absolutely. Crossrail is that automated in the central section. But the reason you will still have drivers on Crossrail trains is because the trains need to go outside the central section back onto the same railway that the Tube is on.
The Dubai Metro is the world's longest driverless rail system and one of the most advanced metro networks. It may be a driverless system, but the world's largest metro network is one of the busiest. The Dubai Metro is one of the wonders of the modern world.
NEL is the world's first fully automated underground driverless heavy rail rapid transit line. It is also the first MRT line to take accessibility into account, with the most number of lifts at the time and the first tactile guidance system.
The Elizabeth line will use Class 345 trains, which are around 200 metres long–making them more than one and a half times longer than the current longest tube train.
By tunnelling in some places close to water-bearing soil, the constant vibration of trains could perhaps disrupt this level of the underground and trigger instability up above. In turn, those structures on top of these instabilities could find their foundations compromised.
They're driven by people. Although they are attempting to automate them. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked out yet. Recently, they tried it on the 7 line but ended up causing massive delays to passengers when the trains would fail to position themselves correctly at stations.
While full driverless autonomy is certainly technically possible, and is applied on various routes worldwide, it still accounts for only a tiny percentage of trains running today. New trains are still being designed and built with fully equipped driver cabins.
Transport for London (TfL) has increased fares to try and raise £27 million per year. These are a part of the conditions that have been imposed by the government, which has seen TfL granted a £3.6 billion bailout.
Important as this central government contribution has been to the project, it needs to be put in context: pandemic years apart, London contributes a tax surplus equivalent to two whole Crossrails every year. So we can justifiably say that London has paid for the new line.
Operated by MTR Elizabeth line (MTREL), a 100% subsidiary of MTR Corporation, the Elizabeth line is part of the TfL network and has interchanges with the London Underground, DLR, London Overground and National Rail services.