JR East to operate self-driving bullet trains on some sections in FY2028

Why bother with a picture from the Joetsu Shinkansen in Niigata when you can use a picture of Mt Fuji?

Anyway, good move - there is really no need for trains to be manually operated - automatic trains have been around for decades.

Haha!

If I saw Fuji from the Joetsu shinkansen,I'd think I'd either gone to the wrong platform,or had too many highballs from the trolley!

It's going to work, and it's not going to have a big impact on the economy. There probably aren't more than 1,000 "drivers". Still, that kind of sucks. Safer? Sure, perhaps, but there's never been a death from an accident.

It sucks because that's traditionally been a well sought after job, something lots of kids aspire to be, as a dream similar to the kids who want to be pilots (another profession likely to automate in coming decades.

The current models are pretty much automatic, with some input from the driver, who constantly calcuates the speed required to main the schedule. The trains also decelerate automatically, but drivers control the brakes manually as they approach stations, with the speed dropping below 60 kph, and they can take over in case of an emergency.

I don't expect fully driverless trains for decades, if ever, here. JR is like many companies here: They have become too risk adverse and inward looking and are caught up in endless red tape and bureaucracy.

Meanwhile much of the rest of the world has caught up and in many cases, surpassed them.

It's going to work, and it's not going to have a big impact on the economy. There probably aren't more than 1,000 "drivers". Still, that kind of sucks. Safer? Sure, perhaps, but there's never been a death from an accident.

It sucks because that's traditionally been a well sought after job, something lots of kids aspire to be, as a dream similar to the kids who want to be pilots (another profession likely to automate in coming decades.

There will still be drivers able to override it and take manual control in emergencies and they will therefore need the same level of skill as drivers do currently.

This is a bad idea. AI cannot make decisions in ambiguous situations.

This idea Is Not Progress. The, What Ifs, are never-ending.

Cyber Attacks for instance.

Wrong photo. This is JR Tokai Tokaido Shinkansen.

This is a bad idea. AI cannot make decisions in ambiguous situations.

Neither can most Japanese company employees as they're not allowed to. What's your point?