Niels Brandenburger

Tasks, skills, and competencies of future high-speed train drivers

This study aims at identifying the roles and tasks of a train driver, who operates a highly automated high-speed passenger train, as well as the job requirements in terms of personnel selection criteria. To this end, two studies – a prospective task analysis and a prospective job analysis based on Fleishman – were conducted with two samples of experienced high-speed train drivers from Germany. The results show that cognitive information acquisition and continuous monitoring tasks require mental persistence and sustained attention, thus converting the train driver into a train operator. It is proposed that the future tasks and working conditions should be designed to strengthen the train operators’ share in tasks of information integration, strategizing, and decision-making. Thus, the detrimental effects of continuous monitoring tasks, which are well established across transportation industry domains, could be alleviated.

Effects of expertise for automatic train operations

The aim was to investigate the effects of automatic speed control and expertise on train driver performance in unexpected, degraded operations in the railway domain. Research from other domains suggested increasing levels of automation to exert detrimental effects on human performance in degraded operations. In addition, research about the effect of expertise on performance in different levels of railway automation was scarce. Reaction times of 26 train drivers to critical events in a high-fidelity railway simulator featuring manual and automatic speed control were assessed. Participants showed longer reaction times in degraded operations under automatic speed control. Results on the influence of expertise were insignificant and methodologically discussed to enable further research. These results highlight performance consequences of automatic speed control in railway operations and offer first insights on how existing expertise needs to be taken into account when introducing automatic speed control into the railway domain.