In addition, most vehicles are heavier than need be. New designs and advanced materials should permit significant weight reductions. In all rail operations, wheel sets are routinely removed from the vehicle and turned on a lathe to restore roundness and the correct profile. This is a very expensive operation, and after wheels have been turned several times they must be discarded or reworked. With computer control of motors, faster, non-sliding stops can be achieved than by simply locking up the wheels.
Curves are the bane of all railroading.
In a city designed around its transport system, curves can be kept gentle, greatly reducing wear of the wheel profile. There is no longer any excuse for building passenger rail vehicles with service brakes that run on the wheels. The entire problem can be avoided simply by using regenerative braking, which can provide smooth stops without wear. Reducing Personnel Costs Fully grade-separateed systems can run without drivers. While it took nearly three decades to perfect the technology, several systems are now operating routinely in fully-automated mode.