Toward the Development of a Performance Model of Railroad Dispatching
This paper reviews literature on the job of railroad dispatching and summarizes research conducted to identify and document railroad dispatcher tasks and activities.
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An Examination of the Yardmaster’s Role in Railroad Yard Safety
This paper describes the results of focus groups with 56 railroad yardmasters to identify yardmaster-related factors that have the potential to affect yard safety.
The Efficacy of Behavior-based Safety in the U.S. Railroad Industry: Evidence from Amtrak-Chicago
This paper provides an implementation and impact evaluation of Clear Signal for Action (CSA), a railroad industry safety program that combines behavior-based safety with process improvement methods. The CSA project took place in two departments at Chicago's Amtrak terminal in 2001 to 2002. A...Using an integrated process of data and modeling in HRA
The paper describes an approach taken to estimate the probabilities of failure associated with various railroad tasks to prevent accidents (principally collisions and derailments). These probabilities were estimated using an expert elicitation process that used partially relevant data available...
Fatigue models as practical tools: diagnostic accuracy and decision thresholds.
This paper provides an exploratory assessment of the effectiveness of participatory rules revisions as an instrument of safety improvement in the U.S. railroad industry. The findings suggest that participatory rules revision, when it includes preparatory activities, is a promising strategy for...
Impacts of Participatory Safety Rules Revision in U.S. Railorad Industry.
This paper provides an exploratory assessment of the effectiveness of participatory rules revisions as an instrument of safety improvement in the U.S. railroad industry. The findings suggest that participatory rules revision, when it includes preparatory activities, is a promising strategy for...
Fatigue and alertness in the United states railroad industry, Part II: Fatigue research in the Office of Research and Development at the FRA.
FRA's Office of R&D has embarked upon a Fatigue Research Program that will systematically assess the many underlying factors that result in fatigue and reduced alertness, and develop appropriate tools that will assist the industry in developing its own effective fatigue management...
"Reliance" and "Distraction" Effects in PTC Automation
This document was requested on 3/3/99 by the PTC Human Factors Team of the Federal Rail Administration (FRA) as part of the ongoing discussions of PTC standards.
Questions have been raised about the possible propensity for a locomotive engineer or conductor to become over-reliant...
Understanding How Railroad Dispatchers Manage and Control Trains: A Cognitive Task Analysis of a Distributed Team Planning Task
A Cognitive Task Analysis was conducted to examine how experienced railroad dispatchers manage track use. The results of the analysis reinforce findings from other domains (e.g., space shuttle mission control, air traffic control) regarding the role of a shared communication channel in...
Reducing Railroad Dispatcher Fatigue with Alternative Work Schedules
A recent research study of dispatcher fatigue found that dispatchers display characteristicstypical for shiftworkers. The present study explored alternative dispatcher work schedules that offer the potential to reduce dispatcher fatigue.