Evaluation of control room human factors: a case study in the railway industry

Railtrack are embarking upon a major project to develop Network Management Centres (NMCs) which will result in significant changes in the operation and maintenance of the Railtrack West Coast Route. Technologies, work roles and routines and network organisation will all be changing. At an early stage within this development programme Railtrack identified the need for measurement systems which could track the change programme and assess the impact of the NMC on the performance and safety of the West Coast Route. The project discussed in this paper has involved the development, and piloting of an evaluation package to be used to assess human factors issues in railway control rooms.