[badc0ffee]

Weirdly, DLR trains still have an attendant onboard. A better example of a fully centrally operated train would be something like the SkyTrain lines in Vancouver.

[seanhunter]

The attendant is a legacy of a union settlement as I understand it. It's not actually required for the ooperation of the system.

[mikepurvis]

The book The Box discusses similar compromises that were made with the longshoremen unions during the transition from conventional hull-packing to containers. There's a certain fairness to it at least for a time, but the technology existing to make the role truly unnecessary does prime things for the next round of discussions when it can be fully eliminated or moved to an off-board overseer remotely monitoring multiple trains at once.

[tim333]

Not all DLR trains. They do things like keep an eye on people and check tickets - there aren't any ticket barriers.