Mobility
SL is inspired by London, among other places, and replaces passenger train hosts with automation and cameras – and reduces costs by SEK 100 million. 350 employee hosts are affected by the change.
“Everyone will be able to hold a job within the MTR group. We secured this in the work leading up to this decision,” Christopher Tamsons (M), Traffic District Consultant and Head of SL, tells Dagens industri and continues:
“Working with public transportation is a future profession, but you should be prepared to change it as we move towards more automation.”
Every train will now Equipped with 24 cameras, which means a total of 3,069 cameras across the entire fleet. The driver will have an overview of all pairs of doors via the screens in the cab. The train driver can then decide for himself when the train is ready to go.
This technology has been tested in several parts of the world (London, Japan, Canada and New Zealand to name a few, editor’s note) and has led to more sustainable, more efficient and more timely traffic. At the same time as we streamline traffic, we can free up resources from labor- and resource-intensive elements to other services that are close to passengers that provide service and security.”
The main job of the train hosts was to make sure all the train doors were closed before signaling to the driver that it was a green light to continue rolling. Other tasks handled by train attendants, such as announcing traffic information, checking wagons and picking up newspapers and trash, will be handled differently in the future, Thompson says without elaborating.
How will travelers notice the change?
“We will be able to build on the technical solution we are implementing now to develop safety and punctuality. What we’re doing now means we’re releasing resources that can go into other, more business-friendly activities,” says Tamsons.
The bill measures just under 300 million, but SL estimates that this means an annual cost cut of 100 million. Tamsons believes that automation and digitization will play an increasingly important role in public transportation in the future.
“I think we should constantly ask ourselves the question of how new technology can be used to improve traffic. There is an incredible amount going on in this area. Self-driving vehicles will be more widely used in traffic in the coming years. There will definitely be more in this area because we We automate and digitize.”
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