Human factor assessments become more and more necessary in the railway industry since they ensure that the design of a vehicle or system is elaborated and changed so as to observe the needs in terms of shape and comfort, not to force the human factor to work in discomfort but to support the human activity so that work can be carried out efficiently and in safety conditions.
For the design of the train cabin, it must be taken into account that the driver must pay attention to signals and information and to interpret their aspects.
Dutch Telematics Institute elaborated a study for the performance improvement of rail traffic, through the communication/information system in the train cabin and implicitly through the driver’s interaction in different situations. Results indicated that drivers change their driving decisions upon different information conditions. Likewise, indicators’ performance was identified, then relevant information elements and subsequently the onboard information system were designed.
In order to improve the communication and mechanical system, three scenarios were identified: normal (the train timetable is respected), abnormal (adapted timetable is applied; most trains are behind schedule) and emergency scenario (an accident has taken place, several tracks are out of service, and new timetables have to be made). Drivers considered that onboard information was more useful in normal and abnormal scenarios than in the emergency scenario when all drivers could do is wait. This means that all relevant information items had to be available to the driver (through onboard communication systems). Within the experiment, two information systems resulted, called Radar I and Radar II. Normally, both onboard information and external information (signage, signals etc.) were available, but Radar I provided information of the present context (surrounding tracks and trains, signals etc.) and Radar II provided the same information as Radar I, extended with information about the future (estimates and orders of trains).
In order to improve the communication between the human factor and the train board, situations were created for each scenario. The normal scenario presented the situation of an international high priority train, with a few minutes delay, while all other trains were on time; the abnormal scenario was about a train being in a congestion or traffic jam.
The conclusion of the two scenarios was that the provided information was not considered meaningful, since the drivers received the context information in fixed order, increasing the richness of the information transmitted by Radar I and Radar II.
Train drivers saw the simulations and their decisions were assessed, both the decision amount based on information and decision change due to information context being relevant.
In case of the normal and abnormal scenarios, 98% and respectively 44 % of the drivers made another decision based on the information context. These results indicate that drivers took into account the information even though decisions were made within their context.
The information display system in the train cabin may distract the attention of the drivers from external information (signals etc.) and, therefore, they may miss important outside signals, which could lead to safety decrease. Communication between train drivers and traffic controllers depends upon personal characteristics of the train drivers.
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