An Experimental Analysis of the Driver's Attention During Train Driving
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Open Eng. 2020; 10:64–73 Research Article Radovan Madleňák*, Jaroslav Mašek, and Lucia Madleňáková An experimental analysis of the driver’s attention during train driving https://doi.org/10.1515/eng-2020-0011 technical means and relations between them which con- Received Oct 30, 2019; accepted Dec 18, 2019 tribute to the safety of railway operation. In particular, by controlling or replacing the activities of transport staff in Abstract: The article deals with the experimental monitor- the management of rail transport. The safety system in ing of the driver’s attention during train operation. SMI railway transport is modern and still upgrading. Railway eye-tracking technology and eye-tracking glasses we used transport is very safe, but like in every transport system, to measure the train driver’s attention. This unique exper- the human factor is still critical [1, 2]. iment we performed on the Slovak railway (ŽSR) line no. The safety systems used in railway transport are cate- 120 Bratislava - Žilina, in the section Žilina - Púchov. The gorised in four categories: measurement took place in the spring of 2017,and the pas- senger train was operated by the ZSSK electric unit series • Station interlocking equipment; 671. The article analyses in detail the monitoring of the • Crossing interlocking device; driver’s attention during train operation. We analysed two • Train protection system; typical processes during train driver work: driving at the • Line signalling equipment. section (without stopping) and driving through the train station (with stopping). Realised analysis can lead to the identification of critical points on the line, to a better un- 1.1 Train protection systems derstanding of the driver’s way of work and to contribute to increasing railway safety. The unique measurement pro- The train protection system is the technical equipment cedure and the used technology did not affect the safety of used on the railway tracks. It transmits signals to the trac- the train operation. tion unit to check the driver for compliance with the train’s limitations (speed). In the event of a breach (over speeding Keywords: eye-tracking measurement, driver’s attention, or non-response to the STOP signal), the train automati- train operation, railway safety cally stops. Train protection functions are: • informing the driver of the signal to which the train 1 Introduction is approaching; • control driver vigilance (vigilance button, dead Railway transport performance in EU according to Euro- man’s button). stat (in 2018) was 471 701.6 million passenger-kilometres The train protection system consists of trackside and and 9 919 851 thousand passengers. The crucial require- mobile parts. The mobile part is placed on traction vehi- ments for the transport system are of high quality, rea- cles or driving cars. It can also be used to transmit and dis- sonable price, connectivity, but the most important is its play signals to the driver’s station. It includes a vigilance safety. High level of safety in railway is based on railway button. signalling system. Railway signalling equipment is a set of The train protection system is a railway safety system that communicates track status and condition informa- tion to the train driver of a locomotive, railcar or multiple *Corresponding Author: Radovan Madleňák: Department of units [3]. The data is continually updated, giving an easy Communications, University of Žilina, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia; to read the display to the train driver. Email: [email protected] The most straightforward systems display the track- Jaroslav Mašek: Department of Railway Transport, University of Žilina, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia side signal, while the systems that are more sophisticated Lucia Madleňáková: Department of Communications, University of also display allowable speed, location of nearby trains, Žilina, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia and dynamic information about the track ahead. Cab sig- Open Access. © 2020 R. Madleňák et al., published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License An experimental analysis of the driver’s attention during train driving Ë 65 nals can also be part of a more comprehensive train pro- • AWS (UK, Ireland, India); tection system. They can automatically apply the brakes • TPWS (UK, Northern Ireland, Australia). stopping the train if the operator does not respond appro- Continuous train protection systems have the added priately to a dangerous condition. benefit of failsafe behaviour in the event a train stops re- The primary purpose of a signal system is to enforce a ceiving the ongoing incident relied upon by the cab sig- safe separation between trains and to stop or slow trains nalling system. Early systems use the rails or loop conduc- in advance of a restrictive situation. The cab signal system tors laid along the track to provide continuous communica- is an improvement over the wayside signal system, where tion between wayside signal systems and the train. These visual signals beside or above the right-of-way govern the systems provided for the transmission of more information movement of trains. It provides the train operator with a than was possible with contemporary intermittent systems continuous reminder of the last wayside signal or a con- and they enabled the ability to display a miniature signal stant indication of the state of the track ahead. to the driver “cab signalling”. Continuous systems are also more easily paired with Automatic Train Control technol- 1.2 Train protection system types ogy, which can enforce speed restrictions based on infor- mation received through the signalling system. That is be- cause the continuous cab signals can change at any time All train protection systems (cab signalling systems) must to be more or less restrictive, providing for more efficient have a continuous in-cab indication. It informs the driver operation than intermittent ATC systems. Continuous train of track condition ahead; however, these fall into two main protection systems include: categories. Depending on the method of transmission of information from track to train, trackside train protection • LS (former Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic and Slo- equipment is divided into continuous and intermittent sys- vakia), tems. • MIREL (Slovakia and Czech Republic), Intermittent train protection systems at discrete points • EVM 120 (Hungary), along the rail line and between these points the display • RS4 Codici (Italy), will reflect information from the last update. Continuous • ALSN (Russia), cab signals receive a constant flow of information about • ATB (Netherlands). the state of the track ahead and can have the cab indica- tion change at any time to reflect any updates. The majority of cab signalling systems, including those that use coded 1.3 Modern train protection track circuits, are continuous. Modern train protection systems combine the advantages Intermittent train protection systems provide constant of both old systems - continuous information transmis- reminders to drivers of track conditions ahead, but they sion (not always) along with accurate vehicle location. The are only updated at discrete points. That can lead to situa- most important characteristic is that the train control sta- tions where the information displayed to the driver has be- tion receives overall information on the length and speed come out of date. Intermittent cab signalling systems have profile of the section ahead of the train for which thenext functional overlap with many other train protection sys- run is permitted. If the speed limit is approaching or the tems such as trip stops. The difference is that a driver or end of the section is approaching, the device displays the automatic operating system makes continuous reference maximum safe speed, which continuously decreases ac- to the last received update. cording to the brake curves. If this speed is exceeded, emer- Intermittent train protection systems include: gency braking is applied to prevent the train from passing • Stopper - the forerunner of all point safeguards. It beyond the leg for which it is allowed to run. These break- is used, for example, by the Berlin S-Bahn or the ers eliminate the possibility of errors caused by improper Prague metro; operation or inattention [4, 5]. The data transmitted to the • Crocodile (France, Belgium, Luxembourg); vehicle can also be used for automatic train control. • INDUSI and similar-PZ80, PZB90 (Germany, Austria, They consist of: Romania, Canada); • Stationary (tracked) parts (central or distributed) au- • Integra-Signum (Switzerland); tonomous devices mostly dependent on the state • ZUB 121 (Switzerland); data of SZZ, ensuring the processing of necessary in- • SHP (Poland); formation on the given route and their subsequent 66 Ë R. Madleňák et al. Table 1: Unauthorized driving across signalling prohibitions, including subsequent collision or derailment on national lines, regional lines and sidings (Source: Czech Rail Safety Inspection Oflce, 2019) The year 2019 The year 2018 No. of accidents Train Shunting No. of accidents Train Shunting January 14 12 2 12 8 4 February 21 12 9 15 11 4 March 21 15 6 6 4 2 April 11 8 3 8 5 3 May 7 5 2 19 16 3 June 14 10 4 12 10 2 July 10 4 6 13 9 4 August 11 7 4 12 7 5 September 6 5 1 23 20 3 October 8 6 2 11 7 4 November 17 13 4 15 11 4 December NA NA NA 2 2 0 No. of accidents 1.Jan. - 30.Nov. 140 97 43 146 108 38 No. of accidents 1.Jan. - 31.Dec. 148 110 38 transfer to a moving train with a particular transfer Some of these systems being nearly able to drive the train guarantee. automatically. • The mobile part, which is installed on individual units (or vehicles) and which receives signals or data from stationary parts, decodes them and it pro- 1.4 Human factor as part of railway safety vides information about the next section of the train path to the driver or vehicle computer.