THAMESLINK TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT WORKLOAD FRAMEWORK: NEW TECHNOLOGY AND MULTIPLE ROLES

Thameslink is one of a number of Network Rail’s investment projects that is introducing Traffic Management and ETCS as the next generation of control systems to increase capacity and performance on the UK rail network.... [ view full abstract ]

Thameslink is one of a number of Network Rail’s investment projects that is introducing Traffic Management and ETCS as the next generation of control systems to increase capacity and performance on the UK rail network. Predictive workload assessments are required on rail projects such as Thameslink so that potential risks to safety and performance can be understood and managed prior to implementation.

The Network Rail signaller workload toolkit has been used successfully for many years with tools and techniques that are well established (Lowe and Pickup, 2008). However, as projects increasingly involve the introduction of new technology to meet the challenges of the future so too the approach used to assess workload must continue to adapt and advance.

On new technology projects the challenge for Ergonomics is to provide assessments of predictive workload prior to implementation. For Thameslink Traffic Management not only is the technology not currently in operational use anywhere in the UK, the Thameslink product is in development. This requires an iterative approach that will develop in line with the maturity of the technology development and project implementation.

Due to the scale and complexity of the Thameslink Traffic Management project which involves not only new technology but multiple roles with different Human Machine Interfaces (HMI) the Ergonomics team established a definition stage prior to undertaking predictive workload assessments.

Our approach is novel in that it must respond to increasing levels of information, both in terms of the system definition, and use case definition, as it become available. Additional complexity arises from the need to develop an approach to predictive workload that can take into account: the introduction of new technology, the use of new technology and legacy systems, interaction between HMIs, work demands of new roles, interactions between roles, stakeholder engagement, and business change.

This paper describes the workload framework developed on Thameslink and the activities undertaken at the definition stage. It also describes how this can be applied to other projects.