It sounds like it was a crew scheduling issue. So if you implement some manual replacement for the automated system, it's possible that train crews will "time

It sounds like it was a crew scheduling issue. So if you implement some manual replacement for the automated system, it's possible that train crews will "time out" before they reach the destination, stranding passengers in the middle of nowhere. Or, will make a tired crew operate the trains, and tired people aren't very good at safety sensitive tasks. There was an incident a few years ago where a LIRR track crew member stepped in front of a train going 78mph and died. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/RAR2001.pdf https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/... The employee that died had been on duty for 38 of the 50 hours leading up to the fatality. One of the NTSB's recommendations is to implement software that avoids worker fatigue: "The FRA encourages the use of certified biomathematical models, such as the Fatigue Audit InterDyne Model and the Fatigue Avoidance Scheduling Tool (FAST) by railroads to help them develop work schedules for safety-sensitive employees that align with healthy work-rest scheduling practices; however, these safety measures do not apply to roadway workers. 14 The work schedules developed through biomathematical models avoid many pitfalls causing worker fatigue that arise from excessively long work hours, highly variable work shift times that disrupt human circadian rhythms, and infringement on sleep opportunity times." TL;DR: it's not about the trains crashing into each other. It's about sleepy people making bad decisions that gets them or their colleagues killed.