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Many transit lines are crewless or virtually crewless already -- Washington Metro, for example, has a crewmember solely to open and close the doors, and to observe.  Train-running is 100% automated.  But that's a distant comparison to freight railroading at best, and while it's instructive to see what has worked and what hasn't in the transit field, it's neither a predictor nor a pattern for freight railroading. Crewless operations are technically feasible right now.  Writing the code is challenging, yes, but if one is willing to make some front-end decisions on simplifying train makeup (e.g., actually adhere to already existing plans), the software isn't impossible.  Crewless operation is not practical, however, on anything other than a 100% private right-of-way fenced securely against people, animals larger than a rabbit, and anything else that could fall on the track, undermine the track, or block the track.  One-man observer-only operation is certainly practical right now, and would create a productivity improvement over two-man crews in many (but not all) applications. S. Hadid
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