I disagree that automation of rail in general is useless. It might not be very valuable economically, but has societal benefits. Rail crews endure extreme physical and mental stress, usually having no real schedule and being required to work random hours with little to no notice (the companies pleasantly refer to this as “on call”). For example, one day you might have to make a run from 8 PM to 1 AM, and a day later you’ll have to work 6 AM to 3 PM, and you frequently have to stay in hotels and crew lodging, where you might not sleep nearly as well as at home. This basically destroys the natural biological clocks of the workers, and can cause many health problems like heart disease, stroke, mental illness, etc. Not to mention the occupational hazards like getting hit by another train or getting derailed at speed. Also, look up how many rail accidents have been caused by crew fatigue, like the Hinton disaster in Canada.