Qualifying for the territory is a necessity because of the line of sight issues for starts.
You just pointed out that trucks are operated on line of sight and trains aren't...
I understand that in "dark territory" the engineer basically has to know where everything is, and in "roadside signal" territory the engineer has to at least know where the signals are, and with manual switches the engineer has to know where the switches are. My point was regarding PTC-controlled automated lines.
Another point is the nature of the grades, particularly with long freight trains. If you have a long freight train it could be spread over two or three grades. Improper train handling will result in slack action that can give you broken knuckles or harsh slack action that could damage freight.
That'll be automated within a few years.
These are just a couple of examples. Some of the engineers that visit here could probably come up with a page or two of reasons for the need for qualification by territory. Remember also, most of the railroad lines were initially built over 100 years ago. They do not begin to have the nice consistency that roads have.
You think roads have "nice consistency"? You don't know JACK about roads.
The roads in my area were upgraded incrementally from Revolutionary-era bridle paths. They have less than no consistency.
Rail lines have *massive* consistency and their characteristics (clearances, suitable speeds, etc.) are *much* more accurately documented compared to roads.
People have been chasing the concept of "unmanned operation" for quite a few years in the transit world. So far the reality says don't do it.
Docklands Light Rail. Case closed. Problem solved. Unmanned operation in the transit world Just Plain Works. (Also, Vancouver SkyTrain.)
Of course, people are uncomfortable having the train unmanned, so there's a "train captain" -- a.k.a. a conductor. Who can also watch for trespassers and fallen trees and hit the "stop" button. No driver/engineer, though.
Several years back now there is an outstanding example of a WMATA operator
WMATA has a defective train control / cab signal system. It wasn't designed failsafe, unbelievably. BART had the same bug (literally, they bought the same signalling system from the same vendor) and BART fixed it. WMATA failed to fix it for 30 more years, despite knowing that their "sister agency" had fixed it. There is something seriously wrong with the safety culture at WMATA. This all came out in a recent disaster.
The unqualified on the territory train engineer might be "less dangerous" than the truck driver on a road he does not know, but that is not saying a lot when you consider the relative accident ratios.
Well, that was really my entire point!
The crash rates on trucks and buses are *very high* compared to the rates on trains. Allowing a much less safe method of operation is a subsidy to trucking.
I feel generally unsafe on intercity buses. The drivers are generally extremely unprofessional. I've been on a bus where the driver ripped off the mirror of a neighboring truck by passing too close. (I saw the truck driver writing the license plate number of the bus down, so presumably that guy got reported to the police.) I've been on buses which were speeding by quite a lot. I've been on buses with aggressively rude drivers. This is among multiple carriers.
I've been on a few intercity buses with solid, professional, competent drivers, but they seem to be the exception. On passenger trains, the average conductor seems to be much better, despite Amtrak's reputation for inconsistent service. (And of course I never meet the engineer -- but they don't speed.)
Most city bus drivers in most cities seem to be better, though I've seen some awful ones.
By the way, most truck and bus drivers do run the same territory over and over normally, so they do become quite familiar with their normal territories.
Yeah, but they aren't "required to be qualified on the territory". And they go on detours without being "qualified" and without having pilots. I know atlases exist... but they don't look at them.
As I say, perhaps they should be required to be qualified.
They don't necessarily know their equipment. Just so you know, the Megabus driver who slaughtered his passenger in Syracuse did not know how tall his bus was. The bridge he crashed into was marked.
However, it's also worth noting that overhead bridges on minor roads are NOT required to be marked and are often not marked. Once you're off the main road, anything can happen...
By the way, in past years the legal limit was 16 hours. It was well the norm during WW2 that crews would be out on the road for their 16 hours and then being called out again "on their rest."
Thanks for the historical detail.
And I live right in the middle of it and have to use it to get anywhere.
