Human-Centered Workplace Design for Remote Operators when Shunting Automated Rail Systems

In the upcoming decade, a serious skilled labor shortage of professional train drivers is expected . The automation of specific use cases of train drives like shunting maneuvers might be the beginning of fully autonomous train transport and may help to encounter challenges due to the decreased number of skilled train drivers. Here, teleoperation could support implement ing automated trains for drives between depot s and platform s Theref ore, t he workflow of shunting maneuvers is presented by a hierarchical task analysis that was conducted with professional train drivers' activities in real world test drives and follow up interviews. Moreover, a classification of these tasks was conducted. Based on that, the requirements of a human c e ntered design of workplaces for remote train operation s as well as the technical implementation of the automation was evaluated and discussed in an interdisciplinary team. Results reveal ed , for example, that tr ain operators need to provide radio communication readiness and driving releases during the implementation of the train’s automation . Based on the findings, a prototypical workstation for the remote operator will be designed in a human centered process following DIN ISO 9241 210:2021 that will be iteratively tested and evaluated within the course of the research process . In addition to workstation design and technical requirements, the future tasks of the train operator need to be clarified t o avoid prolonged reaction times or fatigue. The project activities aim for extending and complementing the current field of research and supporting smooth train operation.