Originally posted by reh321 I’m not at all surprised about the automated trains in Japan, but am about Australia. Automated trains require a restricted/isolated right-of-way, and that would be expensive in remote areas of your country.
It's difficult on most lines in Japan too, because there are many level crossings. The first automated freight trains here were on a line built by Rio Tinto to carry iron ore to the coast. I don't know what they've done to prevent the trains from hitting vehicles which fail to leave a level crossing.
I should add that the Shinkansen (bullet train) is automated to some degree, and there are absolutely zero level crossings on the main lines. I think I did see some level crossings on the Yamagata Shinkansen, but it doesn't carry the number of trains that the main lines do, and the speed is down to that of a normal express train at those points. Many of the Shinkansen lines are raised off the ground so it's impossible for anyone or anything to wander across them. The Shinkansen has technology which automatically slows the train if the gap to the train in front gets close to a safe braking minimum. High speed sections are always dual, so a head-on collision is impossible. Again, I think some sections of the Yamagata line in the mountains were single line at a very reduced speed. The new Chuo line will be mostly underground and dual, because at 500kmh there's no margin for error.