New Tube for London

A related BBC news article is here: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-29520761" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bbc.co.uk&#x2F;news&#x2F;uk-england-london-29520761</a><p>Including comment from the RMT Union about how they are &quot;deeply concerned&quot; about driverless operation, the &quot;lethal and cash driven nonsense of removing drivers&quot;<p>Well... driverless operation may be &quot;cash-driven&quot;, and TFL s often focusing on savings over performance (e.g by removing staff from ticket and information booths) but &quot;lethal&quot; sounds like a slur. Driverless trains work well enough on the DLR in East London, and are probably an inevitable step in 21st century London.

Being called a &quot;customer&quot; instead of a pasenger makes me want to scream with rage every time I hear it, especially when I imagine the consultants and marketing gonks employed, and their fees, to push through this utterly pointless bit of linguistic chicanery. You are public transport infrastructure, not a fucking shop.

&gt;&gt; Air-cooled carriages<p>Got very excited when I saw this then noticed they won&#x27;t be out for at least another 6 years. I haven&#x27;t been in London long but the temperature of the tube is the worst part of the experience for me. The congestion isn&#x27;t pleasant but if the temperature was bearable the congestion wouldn&#x27;t be so bad.

Wow, it&#x27;s about time the Bakerloo line got some new rolling stock. It&#x27;s still using stock from 1972. Even the Picadilly line&#x27;s &#x27;73 stock is miles better.

It&#x27;s kind of crazy to think that the platform-side doors will increase service capacity by removing the ability for people to commit suicide in front of trains.<p>The frequency with which there is &quot;a passenger under a train&quot; must have a tangible effect on tube capacity.

What about the crappy Northern Line?

I wonder what the cost would look like to widen the tunnels on old subway systems like the Tube to make for wider trains. The first thing that hit me about the Tube when I used it is how narrow the trains are (especially the older lines). It&#x27;s not a surprised when probably most of it was dug out by hand, but running a modern tunnel boring machine down the line and laying new track and using the kind of ultra wide trains used in Asia would move far more people.

All I want is air-cooling as I&#x27;m sure the number of using the tube by 2020 will increase by 70% and we will still have to cram in...

Why do all subways have to have the ugliest seat cushions? It&#x27;s like they order them from the same shitty cushion factory.

Shame they didn&#x27;t go for the Siemens design: <a href="http://w3.siemens.com/topics/global/en/goingunderground/pages/home.aspx" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;w3.siemens.com&#x2F;topics&#x2F;global&#x2F;en&#x2F;goingunderground&#x2F;page...</a><p>To me, it seemed like it would stand the test of time a lot better.

I&#x27;m curious on how responsibility works in this case, e.g. a driver can be held accountable for causing an accident, but who is accountable for bugs causing accidents? The software house? I can only imagine the price of civil responsibility insurance for this...

Didnt the tube just get a bunch of new trains in the last couple years? I seem to remember there being a big deal about it because some of the long serving train drivers retired rather than learned how to work the computerised ones.

&quot;Air-cooling&quot; sounds like a gimmick rather than an actual solution (i.e. proper air conditioning).<p>You see this on adverts for new-build flats in London too. &quot;Comfort cooling&quot; often just means a fan blowing hot air around.

<i>&gt;The trains will be designed and built to be capable of fully automatic operation. When the trains first enter service, they will have an operator on board. We would only consider implementing full automation following extensive engagement with our customers, stakeholders, staff and trade unions.<p>We are committed to having a fully-staffed Tube network, on hand to assist customers and ensure safe operations. Given our existing train fleets, all drivers currently working at London Underground will be able to continue to drive trains for the remainder of their careers.</i><p>And so, the battle lines are drawn. They seem keen not to annoy Bob Crow and the unions too much, considering there&#x27;s an election next year. I&#x27;m sure he&#x27;ll react calmly, like he usually does.<p>EDIT: whoops, he&#x27;s dead apparently.

That was disappointing, so still by 2060 the only progress is better doors, 60% more capacity, air cooling, and driverless? that&#x27;s it?

Meanwhile California can&#x27;t get high speed rail, or connect LA Metro from 7th street to the terminal.

The music and video, subconscient reference to Spirited Away?

&#x27;Future proofing&#x27; is not a good sign. Typically it means &#x27;architectural and cost inefficiencies because we don&#x27;t want to institutionalize knowledge&#x27;

Why is this top of HN? These trains, even modernised, are years behind other underground systems like Hong Kong... And this won&#x27;t even be out for years.<p>It&#x27;s nice news for London commuters, but hardly &quot;Hacker News&quot;. Flagged.