Affiliations: Central Queensland University, Wayville, SA,
Australia | Cooperative Research Centre for Rail Innovation,
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Note: [] Corresponding author: Anjum Naweed, Central Queensland
University, Appleton Institute for Behavioural Sciences, 44 Greenhill Rd,
Wayville, SA 5034, Australia. Tel.: +61 8 8378 4520; Fax: +61 8 8378 4532;
E-mail: anjum.naweed@cqu.edu.au
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Due to the growth of information in the urban rail
environment, there is a need to better understand the ergonomics profile
underpinning the visual behaviours in train drivers. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the tasks and
activities of urban/metropolitan passenger train drivers in order to better
understand the nature of the visual demands in their task activities. METHODS: Data were collected from 34 passenger train drivers in four
different Australian states. The research approach used a novel participative
ergonomics methodology that fused interviews and observations with generative
tools. Data analysis was conducted thematically. RESULTS: Results suggested participants did not so much drive their
trains, as manage the intensity of visually demanding work held in their
environment. The density of this information and the opacity of the task,
invoked an ergonomics profile more closely aligned with diagnostic and error
detection than actual train regulation. CONCLUSIONS: The paper discusses the relative proportion of
strategies corresponding with specific tasks, the visual-perceptual load in
substantive activities, and the requisite visual skills behoving navigation in
the urban rail environment. These findings provide the basis for developing
measures of complexity to further specify the visual demands in passenger train
driving.
