I think the author (Hugh Landau) is making a point about the nature of machines. I accept this point, and the related one that humans can use machines to enforce ruthlessness, and that the machine interface means that there's no human who can readily be blamed for the ruthlessness.
However, the point is a little bit undermined by Landau's erroneous assumption about slam-door railway stock in the UK. It absolutely was not abandoned to improve schedule-keeping; on the contrary, it was abandoned because it was unsafe as hell.
However, the point is a little bit undermined by Landau's erroneous assumption about slam-door railway stock in the UK. It absolutely was not abandoned to improve schedule-keeping; on the contrary, it was abandoned because it was unsafe as hell.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slam-door_train