Train operation in the future: Development of a psychological instrument for an optimal design of future human-machine systems in railway operation

Abstract

Increasing digitization and automation of train control at the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) are going to change work processes radically. So, a number of questions arise that will be of decisive importance for the cost-effectiveness, safety and reliability of train control in the future: How can we make use of the advantages of automation without trapping into the pitfalls of their “ironies” [1]? How can we design work processes prospectively such that we will not be surprised by future technical developments? How can we use the positive aspects of automation while mitigating its negative consequences, and finally, how can we ensure the safety and reliability of the railway system in the future? A joint research project between the University of Applied Psychology and the Swiss Federal Railways should provide answers to these questions. The aim of the project was to develop a catalogue of requirements, theoretically founded by work psychology, which would allow developers to design automated systems such that human-machine interaction would not lead to losses of operators’ situation awareness or his or her competences and abilities. In order to develop these requirements, we conducted expert workshops on the date basis of previously carried out work analyses of the human-machine systems of train drivers. In these expert workshops with totally 14 participants (train drivers, fleet procurement, shunting, security specialist) we specified recommendations for future automation projects. These requirements were theoretically founded by a specific psychological method for the analysis, evaluation and design of human-machine systems, called KOMPASS [3]. General aim of KOMPASS and of the psychological requirements was to offer the operator control over the human-machine system and to design automated systems such that operators can maintain control over the automated system. Finally, we put these requirements into an electronic instrument, which should be used by developers to embed work-related psychological requirements in the design of automated human-machine systems. The instrument helps the developer to identify and to justify psychological requirements at an early stage of technology development, where there is still a relatively large amount of formative scope of action. Actually, Swiss Federal Railways use the instrument for the optimal design of train control as well as for an optimal design of future rail traffic management systems.