Concepts of Fatigue and Vigilance in Relation to Railway Operation

Abstract

Considerable advances in biochemical and physiological research have recently made it possible to show that fatigue in train driving exists, oven though drivers on modem locomotives do not expend much physical energy.

On British Railways a number of detailed heart-rate recordings have been taken from drivers during normal duty runs. These tend to confirm the findings, but to apply this knowledge to practical counter measures it is necessary to find the sources of the fatigue.

In order to analyse the skills required to perform the task, it is proposed to use methods of continuous observation of fine details of overt human behaviour, together with records of physiological measurements and events outside the locomotive cabin. Preliminary work on these lines shows that fatigue in drivers may arise, not from overloading the human system but from underload or monotony duo to prolonged inaction combined with stress.

A monotonous environment leads to sensory adaptation and hence to reduced absorption of information. One of the main purposes of further study is to find out what environmental information the driver acts upon and to what extent he relies on his memory of the track. This would lead to the points in time and space at which information processing begins to deteriorate. It is necessary to understand this to specify the particular aspects in the driver's environment which should be enriched so that vigilance is improved and the onset of fatigue averted.