London's second rapid-transit system, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), has operated with driverless trains since its opening in 1987.
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Each car has four doors on each side, and two or three cars make up a train. There are no cabs because normal operations are automated, and a small driver's console is concealed behind a locked panel at each end, from which the Passenger Service Assistant (PSA) can drive the car if required.
The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is a driverless train network that serves parts of east and south-east London. These trains have interchanges with the London Underground at some major Tube stations, including Bank, Tower Gateway (Tower Hill) and Canary Wharf.
The DLR isn't really driverless'While our trains are mostly automated, a passenger service agent like me drives them to and from the depot and has to operate them manually if they break down. There are hidden controls at the front, where everyone wants to sit.
Driverless trains: The DLR was one of the first transport systems in the world to use fully automated trains without drivers. The trains are controlled by a central computer system that monitors their speed, location, direction, doors, brakes, etc.
London's second rapid-transit system, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), has operated with driverless trains since its opening in 1987. Boris Johnson promised in 2012 that there would be driverless Tube trains within 10 years.
One user replied with a simple explanation for the wobbling: “The DLR is wobbly because of the type of wheels that are used. The wheels are angled against the tracks and don't meet at the tracks at a right angle.”
Normal operations are automated, so there is minimal staffing on the 149 trains (which have no driving cabs) and at major interchange stations; the four below-ground stations are staffed, to comply with underground station health and safety regulations.
The DLR is an unusual bit of transport, nestled on the right-hand side of the Tube Map. It's an automated “light metro” system but is sometimes referred to as a railway. The DLR is above ground so like the Overground it doesn't count. It also has driverless trains, making it unique amongst London transport!
Why don't we have driverless trains in UK? As I made clear to the Assembly last year, the London Underground system is an extremely complex environment, in particular, the deep tube lines. For reasons of safety, they are not suitable for driverless trains and there are no plans for their introduction.
Transport for London (TfL) said that the change is being delivered by redistributing existing resources to better support how customers use the DLR – particularly now the Elizabeth line has opened. The ability to run more trains is being delivered by running shorter trains at times.
Current status. Partially-automated trains are used on eight lines: (Victoria, Jubilee, Central, Northern, District, Circle, Hammersmith and City, Metropolitan).
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.
DLR technology is single fault tolerant. The network fails on multiple simultaneous faults in the ring. Another disadvantage of DLR is additional complexity. The DLR object must be configured at each ring node.