How autonomous freight trains powered by artificial intelligence could come to a railroad near you

Last summer, a 30-car freight train led by three diesel locomotives rumbled down the tracks for 48 miles through the Colorado desert -- with nobody at the controls. But this was no runaway train. In fact, the experiment could be a preview of the rail industry's future. The demonstration at the Transportation Technology Center -- a research and testing facility owned by the Association of American Railroads -- was the debut of driverless train software produced by one of the oldest companies in the industry. Along for the ride were representatives from some of America's largest freight railroads who in recent years have been intrigued by the many ways artificial intelligence (AI) could be applied to one of the nation's oldest industries.