As South Africa restores vandalised rail corridors, the emphasis has largely been on physical infrastructure. GIBB sees an opportunity for promoting enhanced operational excellence and safety, with an equal focus on operational environments, particularly where manual train authorisation is in use.
In a drive to rapidly restore service and boost commuter confidence, many train operators rely on manual train authorisation processes to manage movements between stations. While these procedures are compliant with safety standards, they inherently increase headways (the minimum spacing between two trains so that the second train can safely maintain identical speeds to the first train) and place significant responsibility on both train control officers and train drivers.
GIBB Technologist, Piet Van Nieuwenhuizen, says train control centres are environments where split-second decisions can impact safety and network efficiency, and any disruptions can raise serious questions about operational discipline and risk management.
“As South Africa prioritises network recovery, it is critical not to overlook the importance of human performance factors in these control environments. Increased reliance on human judgement under these conditions elevates the importance of discipline, situational awareness and environmental control within train control centres.”
At its core, manual train authorisation must rely on two factors – safety and patronage. The manual process introduces increased operational risk due to the absence of automated signalling and interlocking systems, making it important to mitigate these risks by adopting strict safety measures.
These include a reduction in speed limits to allow for extended reaction time; the introduction of turnout (points) safety procedures; and the entrenchment of Special Operating Procedures (SOPs) – detailed manual protocols including block section clearance, radio-based movement authority, and documented track occupation to maintain a safe environment, despite the lack of electronic control.
While these measures reduce the likelihood of accidents, they increase the dependency on human performance, which can lead to delays, error or near misses, particularly when personnel are under pressure or during peak periods.
This is where patronage comes into play. Manual operations severely impact the efficiency and capacity of urban rail systems, especially in high-density metro corridors, leading to extended headways (from three to five minutes under automated signalling, to 30 to 24 minutes under manual authorisation), reduced train frequency and lower passenger throughput.
In this respect, it is essential that train control rooms are not noisy or distracting as this directly impacts the safety, efficiency and decision-making quality in rail operations.
A lack of control room discipline and too many environmental distractions can affect performance. This is because train control relies heavily on clear, real-time communication (voice and data). Background noise can result in mishearing train numbers or commands or lead to misunderstood instructions, resulting in signal violations or routing errors.
In addition, it can reduce situational awareness – where noise and distractions interfere with the controller’s ability to monitor multiple systems simultaneously such as signalling, train movement and radio traffic; or detect critical alerts, alarms or irregular patterns in train operations.
Nieuwenhuizen says this can lead to delayed responses. “In emergencies, every second counts. A distracted or overstimulated environment slows reaction times and can prevent timely interventions.
“The train control room is a high-stakes mental workload environment, with train control staff under significant cognitive load. Distractions increase mental fatigue, as well as the risk of memory slips and decision errors,” he adds.
Notably, noise pollution studies in control environments (including aviation and power systems) consistently show that higher background noise correlates with more operator mistakes.
This, in turn, affects efficiency and operational flow, which is why control room discipline, such as silence during shift handovers, focused workspaces and structured communication, are important for ensuring smooth transitions and clear understanding of operational status, as well as timely coordination across multiple teams (train operators, maintenance, emergency responders).
Nieuwenhuizen says maintaining control room discipline and managing the environment ensure staff can operate with full attention, minimise mistakes and promote the safe and efficient movement of trains.
“Historically, paper-based Manual Authorisation has been used in South Africa to issue movement authority during signalling outages. This involves direct communication between the train driver and the train control officer, with movement instructions documented manually.”
With the introduction of modern communications, a hybrid approach has evolved: digital radios and mobile phones now used for voice communication, while the original paper-based authorisation procedures remain in place within train control centres.
To enable improved operation during signalling failures, the system must be capable of determining the precise location of the train, the specific track the train is occupying, the intended route of the train, the movements of other trains within the affected area and the status of key infrastructure, including the position of turnouts (points).
Nieuwenhuizen notes that while engineering consultancies are highly capable of delivering infrastructure design, they are also able to come up with designs and procedures aimed at enhancing safe system implementation.
“One way is to design control rooms that support human performance and reduce fatigue, stress and distraction, applying ISO 11064 standards for ergonomic control room design including desk layouts, lighting, acoustics and line of sight.
“Another is to conduct human factors assessments to identify cognitive load risks and design mitigation strategies, for example, ensuring critical monitors and alarm panels are within the primary visual zone to reduce head movement and distraction,” he suggests.
This should include the design of quiet, focused environments that incorporate sound-absorbing materials, enclosed spaces for non-operational staff, and acoustic panels to reduce ambient noise.
“It’s important to separate functional zones such as operations, admin and break areas to limit cross-functional distractions, as well as implement intelligent lighting systems to enhance alertness without glare or visual clutter,” adds Nieuwenhuizen.
Implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) to promote a culture of control room discipline is critical. Key to this is the design of control room furniture and a layout that reduces movement and distraction during tasks, as well as introducing shift planning and alertness management strategies to establish circadian-friendly schedules and break zones.
This should be underpinned by user-friendly system interfaces for SCADA, signalling and train monitoring systems; and the implementation of logical display grouping, colour coding, and minimal alarm fatigue to help operators stay focused.
Nieuwenhuizen says training programmes focused on situational awareness, communication protocols, and distraction management play a key role in the success of these measures and should be supported by an organisational culture that reinforces best practices in discipline and workspace conduct and fosters a mindset of professionalism, vigilance and pride in safe operations.
“Modern engineering consultancies are well-positioned to ensure that control rooms are not just technically functional, but also safe, efficient and human-centred. By going beyond design to include operational context and behavioural engineering, consultancies can reduce distractions and help implement a truly safe railway system,” he concludes.
