Rail Industry Perspectives on the Future of Autonomous Mainline Operations

Emily J Morey, R E Wilson, Kevin Galvin, Thomas Riley, Neil J Carhart

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

Abstract

Through stakeholder engagements with rail industry experts, we explore the problem space around the current and future challenges facing GB (mainland countries of the UK: Scotland, Wales, and England) rail and how partial or full autonomy could solve these challenges. Through the completion of step five of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), we have compared our conceptual models to the real-world, via semi-structured stakeholder interviews, and verified and validated these models via a virtual focus group. The aim of the paper and the engagements is to identify and evaluate a broad range of stakeholders’ perspectives and provide validation (or otherwise) of our conceptual models. We identified that there are questions around the future of GB rail, the uncertainty of future rail demands and its impact on the rail industry’s appetite to pursue autonomy. Additionally, there are questions around where would autonomy lie within operations, such as on-board the train or in a centralised hub etc., and how might autonomous features interact with humans. We discuss how these findings can be tackled and produced a series of recommendations for GB’s rail industry to investigate further. Lastly, we discuss how these findings altered our conceptual models and how effective these engagement methods were at validating our models.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages22
JournalTransportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
Publication statusSubmitted - 23 Jul 2024

Keywords

  • Soft Systems Methodology
  • Stakeholder Engagement
  • Rail
  • Autonomy

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  • T-B PHASE: Prosperity Partnership with Thales

    Richards, A. G. (Principal Investigator), Wilson, R. E. (Co-Investigator), Johnson, A. (Collaborator), Bullock, S. (Co-Investigator), Lawry, J. (Co-Investigator), Noyes, J. M. (Co-Investigator), Hauert, S. (Co-Investigator), Bode, N. W. F. (Co-Investigator), Pitonakova, L. (Researcher), Kent, T. (Researcher), Crosscombe, M. (Researcher), Zanatto, D. (Researcher), Alkan, B. (Researcher), Drury, K. L. (Manager), Hogg, E. (Student), Bonnell, W. D. (Student), Bennett, C. (Student), Clarke, C. E. M. (Student), Potts, M. W. (Student), Sartor, P. N. (Collaborator), Harvey, D. (Collaborator), Rayneau-Kirkhope, B. (Collaborator), Galvin, K. (Collaborator), Lam, J. (Collaborator), Barden, E. (Collaborator), Chattington, M. (Collaborator), Radanovic, M. (Researcher), Morey, E. J. (Student), Ball, M. (Co-Principal Investigator), Hunt, E. R. (Collaborator), Richards, A. G. (Principal Investigator), Radanovic, M. (Researcher), Morey, E. J. (Student), Steane, V. (Collaborator), Reed Edworthy, J. (Collaborator) & Hart, S. G. (Student)

    1/10/17 → 31/03/23

    Project: Research

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