Reader Comments:

Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.

• Steve, Nottingham

  Driver-less tube trains are a long way off.

• Stephen Lawrence, Cambridge

  Walk-thru trains - great!

• James Pritchard, Southampton

  I would have thought that in a fully automated system, "dead end tunnels" - and other fixed points - are easier to account for than other moving trains, and these are not seen as issues on stretches of line which are already safely automated (e.g. the Victoria Line, if I am right*, or the DLR). The fact that disasters such as the one at Moorgate sadly happened also serve as a reminder that human operation is not infallible.
  
  I do, however, see the need for personnel on-board the train. The Unions should pick their battles accordingly. They already have a reputation for bleating about "safety" as a way of justifying strike action, and if they focus on hyping up some of the issues with automation in the same way then they risk being dismissed for crying wolf too many times. Where there exist legitimate concerns, such as the need for personnel, then these should be expressed clearly and fairly, without being clouded by other issues.
  
  (*You are quite right, and the Victoria has been automated for normal running since the first section opened in 1969. However, a fully-qualified driver remains in the cab, although the actual job mostly consists of monitoring the doors and pressing two buttons to start the train.--Editor.)

• james Palma, London

  c, London, you are correct there are ove-run tunnels at Elephant.
  
  Melvyn, i think you are doing a great injustice to London Underground. This is a press relaese, not a detailed case study! When the latter is published, then it would warrant more detailed inspection and comment.
  
  And Bob Crow? if someone buys the wrong tea bags he gives out, so as far as I am concerned, his posturings are pointless and no way intended to satisfy public views or needs.

• c, london

  I thought the Bakerloo tracks went on down Walworth Road rather than a dead stop?

• Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex

  Having just read the notice on the TFL site it seems that TFL simply plans to order new trains for Bakerloo , Central, Piccadilly and Waterloo And City lines with no mention of whether driverless trains will be suitable for all the different types of route these lines operate over. For while the Victoria Line largely operates in tube tunnel the other lines run in tube tunnels, sub surface, on viaducts and even share sections of track with sub surface and even overground trains !
  
  Yet instead of looking starting by looking at the network and more importantly section like the highly curved Central Line at Bank and whether even a case to transfer sections of route to separate operation the plan simply talks of 100 trains for Piccadilly Line...etc
  
  And what of stations for it mentions running more trains on these lines but as former tube chief Tim O'Toole said on an earlier TV series about the tube " it's no use running more and more trains if stations can't empty of passengers delivered before next train arrives!" And given the number of stations where passengers have to trudge up and down stairs at platform level surely this needs to be dealt with first?
  
  On BBC London local news Bob Crow said he would be talking to ASLEF as he thinks not having a driver at the front poses dangers to passengers and raised the important point is where is train captain going to be and how will they get though to front if an incident arises ?
  
  As for Bakerloo Line well that currently ends with dead end tunnels so could trains be trusted in light of the Moorgate disaster to stop every time !
  
  Boris has already wasted millions on useless vanity buses so someone needs to call a halt to wasting money on trains that are not suited for a system a century old.

• Richard Porter, Maidenhead

  The Waterloo & City is an obvious candidate for full automation.