DISPLAY DESIGN FOR MULTIPLE SIGNALLING SYSTEMS IN ENGINEERING VEHICLES

Safe operation of passenger trains on the London Underground network is achieved by either traditional wayside signalling with trip-cocks or one of several different Automatic Train Protection (ATP) signalling systems,... [ view full abstract ]

Safe operation of passenger trains on the London Underground network is achieved by either traditional wayside signalling with trip-cocks or one of several different Automatic Train Protection (ATP) signalling systems, depending on the line they operate on. However, the engineering vehicles used to support major upgrade projects and ongoing maintenance of the network need to travel across all of the lines and therefore have to be compatible with all of the different protection systems. The key operability challenge is how to provide the driver with in-cab signalling information for several ATP systems.
For both ergonomic and technical reasons it is impractical to fit several in-cab signalling system displays into the drivers’ cabs. Instead, the cabs were to be fitted with a single display capable of showing the in-cab signalling information for each ATP system, as selected by the driver. Given that there are major differences between the Graphical User Interface (GUI) of each of the in-cab signalling systems, concerns were raised about usability issues affecting driver performance such as; effective response to changes in target speed, correctly locating and identifying system information, and efficient response to notifications (alarms and alerts). It was decided that a ‘common’ style of GUI, known as the Multi-TOD, would be developed to accommodate the information from each signalling system, aiming to improve usability by reducing the likelihood of human error and to present notifications (alarms and alerts) consistently. A related benefit would also be a reduction in the driver training required.
The Multi-TOD concept is a first for London Underground. This paper describes the concept GUI design and some of the lessons learnt in the process of designing it.