Driving performance of Dutch train drivers: assessing the impact of the presence of a second person in the cabin

Dutch train drivers are exposed to a complex railway system, conducting their work in a safe manner requires sufficient situation awareness. One of the factors that contribute to situation awareness is attention. Multiple... [ view full abstract ]

Dutch train drivers are exposed to a complex railway system, conducting their work in a safe manner requires sufficient situation awareness. One of the factors that contribute to situation awareness is attention. Multiple studies and investigations show that distraction is a major risk for attention.Train drivers are exposed to various forms of distraction, including the presence of a second (authorized) person (e.g. supervisor) in the cabin while driving. Currently, there is insufficient understanding of the impact of the presence of another person in the driver’s cabin on attention allocation and driver performance.

This pilot is the first practical simulator based research used by Dutch Railways to understand the impact of the person’s behaviour on attention allocation and subsequently driving performance of train drivers. The simulation design used for this study mimics naturalistic situations for train drivers and offers the possibility to measure output of driving performance. Fifteen experienced train drivers participated in a train simulation while another person was present. Drivers were exposed to different driving circumstances, a distinction was made between a person who was considerate of the driving task and a person who wasn’t.

Attention allocation was assessed through the percentage of the route the driver was in conversation with the person, the frequency of conversation interruptions and the frequency of visual focus on the person present. The output of driving performance was measured through the amount of times the train protection system (TPS) issued warning signals. Furthermore, on a strategic level driver performance was assessed by the amount of tasks that were completed correclty and by speed limit transgression at time of the task.

The results of this pilot show that the presence of a person has a negative impact on driving performance: tasks were completed more successfully when driving alone. Train drivers were more in conversation with the non-considerate person compared to the considerate person. Conversations were more often interrupted to focus on the driving task on routes with moderate and high complexity, indicating that conversations increased workload of train drivers. The amount of TPS warning signals issued increased when the driver was more often in conversation, indicating that the presence of a person has a negative impact on speed monitoring. However, the findings for speed limit transgression seem to indicate that in case of speed limit crossing the trasngression was less when a considerate person (e.g. supervisor) was present. This presence seemed to prompt a more defensive driving style.

These findings indicate the importance of limiting distraction by a second person in the driver’s cabin. This resulted in a revised cabin policy with a more strict authorization process. Participants indicated that awareness of the impact of a person’s presence on driving performance improved as a result of participating in the experiment. The findings of this study were used to improve train driver awareness of the influence of another person’s presence on attention allocation and driving performance.

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