Solution to shortage is automatic

REMOTEcontrolled trains could be one way to overcome an obvious train driver shortage in metropolitan Melbourne.
Automatic pilot systems could be easily introduced, initially on the shorter direct routes, with a high degree of efficiency and safety.
If engineers can fly aeroplanes by remote control, then trains can be driven using similar systems.
I would prefer a passenger bus system to transport people, using express lanes on our freeways, to the cumbersome rail system, but many people I talk to about public transport veto that idea outright.
However, I have seen systems where buses ply a route without a timetable but with enough vehicles to keep waiting times to a minimum.
This also provides comfort and security for passengers.
I spent seven days travelling by train to and from work earlier this year and besides my fuse burning short I heard plenty of others fizzing away as some passengers expressed their disgust at a range of issues.
Primarily, the complaints were about late departures, late arrivals and, on one occasion, a train was diverted on to another route with the result that some passengers missed their stations.
One train sat in the station two minutes after its scheduled departure time while the driver was involved in a conversation on the platform.
Twice in 14 trips trains did not turn up.
They had been cancelled, which in one case meant the next train was seriously overcrowded.
Last week I went into the suburbs by train and found nothing had changed.
During one 30minute peak period on Flinders Street Station not one train was on time.
One public announcement said a train sitting in the station six minutes after its scheduled departure time would leave ‘when qualified running staff were available’.
The system needs a touch up.