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I think rail is going to be undermined even further.
You bet. Look at German National Rail ("Deutsche Bahn"). Used to the the poster child for national rails--- now neo-private and more or less profitable. Its freight division DB Cargo (ex-DB Schenker Rail) is, however, loosing money ..
http://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/2016-03/deutsche-bahn-macht-1-3-milliarden-euro-verlust
so much that they just axed 2100 jobs...
http://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article153587840/Deutsche-Bahn-streicht-2100-Stellen-im-Gueterverkehr.html
The government responce? Increase the costs of using the tracks.. and increase incentives for lorries such as allowing megaliner road trains.. I guess to be fair.. the trucks are made by either Daimler, MAN (part of VW), Scania (part of VW), Iveco (which now owns a number of the smaller German makers), Ford (Germany), Volvo AB (not to be confused with Volvo Cars which is Chinese), Renault (part of Volvo AB),...
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EdwardZ
Yes, that's the greatest unsolved problem of robotisation (apart from all the other unsolved problems).
My main worry is that, while rail is by far and away the best way of transporting freight overland, if even salary costs fall away for driving (which I realise is some way off yet, but still), I think rail is going to be undermined even further.