TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH Number E-C085 January 2006 Railroad Operational Safety Status and Research Needs TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2005 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OFFICERS Chair: John R. Njord, Executive Director, Utah Department of Transportation, Salt Lake City Vice Chair: Michael D. Meyer, Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Division Chair for NRC Oversight: C. Michael Walton, Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, University of Texas, Austin Executive Director: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2005 TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES COUNCIL Chair: Neil J. Pedersen, State Highway Administrator, Maryland State Highway Administration, Baltimore Technical Activities Director: Mark R. Norman, Transportation Research Board Christopher P. L. Barkan, Associate Professor and Director, Railroad Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Rail Group Chair Christina S. Casgar, Office of the Secretary of Transportation, Office of Intermodalism, Washington, D.C., Freight Systems Group Chair Larry L. Daggett, Vice President/Engineer, Waterway Simulation Technology, Inc., Vicksburg, Mississippi, Marine Group Chair Brelend C. Gowan, Deputy Chief Counsel, California Department of Transportation, Sacramento, Legal Resources Group Chair Robert C. Johns, Director, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Policy and Organization Group Chair Patricia V. McLaughlin, Principal, Moore Iacofano Golstman, Inc., Pasadena, California, Public Transportation Group Chair Marcy S. Schwartz, Senior Vice President, CH2M HILL, Portland, Oregon, Planning and Environment Group Chair Agam N. Sinha, Vice President, MITRE Corporation, McLean, Virginia, Aviation Group Chair Leland D. Smithson, AASHTO SICOP Coordinator, Iowa Department of Transportation, Ames, Operations and Maintenance Group Chair L. David Suits, Albany, New York, Design and Construction Group Chair Barry M. Sweedler, Partner, Safety & Policy Analysis International, Lafayette, California, System Users Group Chair TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH CIRCULAR E-C085 Railroad Operational Safety Status and Research Needs Transportation Research Board Vehicle User Characteristics Committee Railroad Operational Safety Subcommittee January 2006 Transportation Research Board 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 www.TRB.org TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH CIRCULAR E-C085 ISSN 0097-8515 The Transportation Research Board is a division of the National Research Council, which serves as an independent advisor to the federal government on scientific and technical questions of national importance. The National Research Council, jointly administered by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine, brings the resources of the entire scientific and technical communities to bear on national problems through its volunteer advisory committees. The Transportation Research Board is distributing this Circular to make the information contained herein available for use by individual practitioners in state and local transportation agencies, researchers in academic institutions, and other members of the transportation research community. The information in this Circular was taken directly from the submission of the authors. This document is not a report of the National Research Council or of the National Academy of Sciences. Vehicle User Characteristics Committee Railroad Operational Safety Subcommittee Don Sussman, Chair Stephen Reinach, Secretary Faye Ackermans Denny Holland Stephen Popkin Michael Coplen Vijay Kohli Joyce Ranney Tim DePaepe Alan Lindsey Thomas Raslear Fred Gamst Ann Mills Mark Ricci Royal Gelder Jeff Moller Thomas Rockwell Judith Gertler Jordan Multer Pat Sherry Robert Harvey John Pollard James Stem Richard Pain, TRB Staff Representative Transportation Research Board 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 www.TRB.org Ann E. Petty, Production Editor; Jennifer Correro, Proofreader and Layout Acknowledgment his document is a report of the September 10–12, 2002, Midyear Meeting of the T Transportation Research Board’s Railroad Operational Safety Subcommittee, AND10(1). The success of this meeting was due to the dedicated efforts and resources of a wide variety of people, all involved in the science of making railroad operations safer through better understanding of the role of human factors. The groundwork for this meeting was laid during the 2001 annual subcommittee meeting, when meeting topics were selected and a core set of volunteers enlisted, to begin the intricate process of meeting planning and organization. The following is a list of the key functions in organizing the meeting and those people responsible for making sure they were accomplished: • Task Force Lead and Conference Organizer: Stephen Popkin • Subcommittee Chair: Don Sussman • Subcommittee Secretary: Stephen Reinach • Venue Coordination: Richard Pain and Stephen Reinach • Fundraising: Judith Gertler and Vijay Kohli • Promotion: Roy Gelder and Faye Ackermans • Invited Speaker Liaison: Fred Gamst These volunteers engaged in 18 months of planning and coordinating activities that included identifying meeting agenda items and defining roles to be fulfilled. Given the scope of the effort, additional subcommittee members and outside experts were recruited to help share the workload. This work included facilitating the development of research problem statements; providing invited presentations; serving as breakout discussion session panelists, facilitators and note takers; and subsequently compiling the manuscript. The following are the people who served in this capacity: • Research problem statements facilitator: Thomas Rockwell • Invited speakers: Göran Kecklund, Neville Moray, Ann Mills, Victor Riley • Breakout discussion session panelists: Michael Coplen, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA); Grady Cothen, FRA; Tim DePaepe, Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen (BRS); Peter Hall, Amtrak; Robert Harvey, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE); Scott Kaye, FRA; Al Lindsey, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF); Larry Milhon, BNSF; Stephen Popkin, Volpe; Thomas Raslear, FRA; Mark Ricci, BLE • Breakout discussion session facilitators: Joyce Ranney, Tom Sheridan, Don Sussman • Breakout discussion session note takers: Judith Gertler, Jordan Multer, Stephen Reinach • Report preparation: Stephen Popkin, Don Sussman • Manuscript editor: Jane Saks Despite the hundreds of volunteer hours served, this meeting would not have been possible without the generous support of the following organizations: i ii Transportation Research Circular E-C085: Railroad Operational Safety: Status and Research Needs • Federal Railroad Administration • Association of American Railroads • CANAC Corporation • Cattron-Theimeg International, Ltd Special appreciation is also given to Richard Pain and the staff at the Transportation Research Board, who helped with every meeting detail and provided the Beckman Center in Irvine, California, as the meeting venue. Many of the attendees remarked that this setting was ideal in allowing them to clear their thoughts and focus on the issues being presented. Lastly, the attendees are to be congratulated on their level of enthusiasm and preparation upon arriving at the meetings, and the level of effort they put into ensuring the sessions and end products exceeded expectations. Executive Summary STEPHEN POPKIN JANE SAKS his report summarizes the proceedings of the Midyear Meeting of the Transportation T Research Board’s (TRB) Railroad Operational Safety Subcommittee, AND10(1), held September 10–12, 2002, at the Beckman Center in Irvine, California. BACKGROUND The primary purpose of this 2002 Midyear Meeting was for key stakeholders to have an opportunity to discuss the most significant human factors-related research areas facing the railroad enterprise. At the first formal subcommittee meeting held during the TRB Annual Meeting in January 2000, attendees were asked to select and rank the top human factors-related research areas in which they and their organizations were most interested. This 2002 meeting was designed, in part, to address in detail the three highest ranking topics. The two goals of this meeting were 1. To develop and rank research problem statements (RPSs) and 2. To bring together national and international members of the rail transportation enterprise to discuss three major topics believed critical to railroad operational safety: • Fatigue and vigilance, • Safety culture, and • The impact of advanced technology on railroad operational safety. Internationally recognized speakers with non-railroad backgrounds were selected to provide a fresh perspective and an international flavor. DAY 1: RESEARCH PROBLEM STATEMENTS The initial activity (the agenda is found in Section 1.6 and a detailed agenda is in Appendix A) was the development of RPSs. Professor Thomas Rockwell led the process. He had subcommittee members first identify and discuss a comprehensive list of human factors research topics to be addressed in the rail enterprise, and then develop a “top 10” list through a consolidation and prioritization exercise. The originators of these top 10 research problem statements were then instructed to develop the statement in greater detail. Following are the 10 most highly rated RPSs generated at the meeting: 1. Measurements of effectiveness of safety interventions of all kinds: relationship between fatigue and operator performance;