Acmena delivered a comprehensive human factors program for ARTC and Lockheed Martin's Advanced Train Management System — covering design reviews, usability trials and HF assurance for Australia's freight rail network.

To improve safety, capacity and efficiency across the national freight rail network, the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) partnered with Lockheed Martin in 2008 to develop the Advanced Train Management System (ATMS).

Replacing traditional trackside signalling with on-board GPS and mobile communications-based control systems, ATMS provides drivers and operators with precise, real-time information, enabling trains to be accurately located and routed from digital network control centres. The system also provides the capability to remotely enforce authorities and slow or stop trains in the case of emergency.

Providing Integrated Human Factors Services for Digital Train Control in Australia

Ensuring that these advanced systems are designed around human capabilities and limitations is precisely where human factors integration delivers its greatest value — and it is a discipline in which Acmena has become one of Australia’s most experienced practitioners.

After providing human factors support for the ATMS Proof of Concept stage, Acmena – a specialist in human factors integration across Australia’s rail and freight networks – was engaged in 2014 to develop and deliver a comprehensive HF program for Implementation Stage One (ISO). Required to provide evidence of reliability, maintainability and safety prior to a full operational roll-out, ISO incorporated live trials between Port August and Whyalla in South Australia involving up to ten GWA locomotives.

Integrating its program with the project safety and RAM activities, Acmena was responsible for conducting design reviews for both the network controller workstation and on-board driver interfaces. This involved an analysis of workflow, safety functions, alarm behaviours and error handling strategies. Acmena also investigated the potential for human error introduced by the interface design and verified the implementation of the human interfaces.

Working closely with project stakeholders, Acmena was responsible for planning, conducting and reporting on an extensive usability trial, incorporating the simultaneous use of a controller and driver to deliver efficient and realistic outcomes. Acmena also provided key HF management and assurance services to ensure the project met its regulatory requirements and performance objectives.

ATMS Certification and Deployment Outcomes

Acmena’s human factors program has been successfully completed with ATMS now fully operational and acting as the primary safeworking system between Port Augusta and Whyalla in South Australia. Development and planning have continued for the expansion of the system on the Tarcoola to Kalgoorlie corridor, which is crucial for the Trans-Australian Railway with the ARTC focused on making ATMS inter-operable with the European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 2.

Like the Digital Systems Program, Cross River Rail and Sydney Metro, The ATMS program demonstrates Acmena’s capability to deliver human factors integration for novel, safety-critical digital systems across Australia — from initial proof of concept through to certification and operational deployment.

Profile: 

• Cost: Confidential
• Client: Lockheed Martin
• Services provided: Human factors integration, Workflow analysis, Alarm behavior analysis, Human-machine interface analysis

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