Cars will drive themselves before freight trains do

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If one mode of transport would seem ideally suited to becoming driverless, it is surely trains, given that they already run on tracks. But according to this Bloomberg analysis, written on the back of a set-piece interview with Union Pacific chief executive Lance Fritz, there is little chance of seeing widespread driverless freight trains anytime soon. US rail companies, which typically own both the infrastructure and the rolling stock, see a better return on investment when they put their money into tracks rather than locomotive technology – partially because in terms of the scale of their businesses, money spent on drivers wages is a comparatively minor aspect.