Could Screens Help with Train Safety?

[whhistle]

A while ago there was talk about aeroplane windows becoming screens instead of an actual window.
Something about not having hundreds of "holes" punched into the fuselage would increase strength, which is understandable.
The question was then posed about the pilot windows and whether it's feasable to replace those with screens and super hi-def cameras instead.

I then come across another thread

Could this same method work for trains, to protect drivers a bit better?

I understand there will be a risk of camera failure but that isn't a real argument if the technology and implimentation is really thought through.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I doubt it'd make that much difference to strength of an airframe, as it's the frame, not the thin ally skin, that has the strength.

 

[dcbwhaley]

Apart from the driver and the guard why does anyone need windows or screens on a train?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Apart from the driver and the guard why does anyone need windows or screens on a train?

Because sitting inside a sealed metal box isn't fun. LU discovered this in their early years of operation, even given that there isn't much of a view!

 

[dcbwhaley]

Because sitting inside a sealed metal box isn't fun. LU discovered this in their early years of operation, even given that there isn't much of a view!

At least I wouldn't have the sun in my eyes

 

[PR1Berske]

Apart from the driver and the guard why does anyone need windows or screens on a train?

You want passengers to be sealed into metal tubes with only the doors as means of exit in case of emergency?

 

[AM9]

Because sitting inside a sealed metal box isn't fun. LU discovered this in their early years of operation, even given that there isn't much of a view!

He/she did say 'need', not want.

 

[dcbwhaley]

He/she did say 'need', not want.

It is he. And aeroplanes operate very safely with only the doors as means of exit in an emergency. If you did want more emergency exits they don't have to be windows. There could be break away panels in the walls.

 

[Pigeon]

It has occurred to me before that now that high definition video screens are available, it would make more sense for the driver to drive from the back end of the train just so you can ask them about it when they hit something. Driving from the front means you get really stupid accidents like Ladbroke Grove or Moorgate, when there is a really powerful need to ask the driver "just what in the name of alien duck sex did you think you were doing?" because otherwise you can't begin to make sense of what happened, only you can't on account of them being dead.

It wouldn't make a whole lot of difference to the strength of the bodyshell though, because the end of a tube contributes very little to the strength compared to the sides.

So it would "help with safety" in the sense of providing information which might help prevent future accidents, but not in the sense of making the present accident less of a smash-up.

I doubt it'd make that much difference to strength of an airframe, as it's the frame, not the thin ally skin, that has the strength.

The tube is the frame, and it does make it weaker/heavier to have holes in the side. "Stressed skin construction", which is one name for the technique, began on aircraft for reasons of minimum weight for the strength, which is important enough on aircraft that people started to reckon it was worth the increased difficulty of designing it very early on. Once it became a developed technique it was then applied to trains and cars.

Apart from the driver and the guard why does anyone need windows or screens on a train?

Are you a seating layout designer?

 

[dcbwhaley]

It has occurred to me before that now that high definition video screens are available, it would make more sense for the driver to drive from the back end of the train just so you can ask them about it when they hit something. Driving from the front means you get really stupid accidents like Ladbroke Grove or Moorgate, when there is a really powerful need to ask the driver "just what in the name of alien duck sex did you think you were doing?" because otherwise you can't begin to make sense of what happened, only you can't on account of them being dead.

It wouldn't make a whole lot of difference to the strength of the bodyshell though, because the end of a tube contributes very little to the strength compared to the sides.

So it would "help with safety" in the sense of providing information which might help prevent future accidents, but not in the sense of making the present accident less of a smash-up.



The tube is the frame, and it does make it weaker/heavier to have holes in the side. "Stressed skin construction", which is one name for the technique, began on aircraft for reasons of minimum weight for the strength, which is important enough on aircraft that people started to reckon it was worth the increased difficulty of designing it very early on. Once it became a developed technique it was then applied to trains and cars.



Are you a seating layout designer?

No I am not a seating layout designer. Why do you ask?