Optimum Use of CCTV on Railway Systems |
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Named Investigators: Dr Alex Stedmon (University of Nottingham)
Researchers: Laura Millen (University of Nottingham)
Industry Collaboration and Mentors: Network Rail (project co-funders)
Background:
The use of CCTV on Europe’s railways is becoming more widespread with increasingly diverse applications:
- at stations it can be used to alert staff to potential suicides and potential/actual criminal behaviour/vandalism, the presence of suspicious packages, and to get early warning of and help manage problems of overcrowding and passenger flow
- on board trains, it is used to help drivers scan the behaviour of passengers boarding and alighting
- at level crossings it may be used to help signal staff ensure that the crossings are clear and safe for barrier lowering
- in maintenance and inspection tasks it can be used to help examine track for potential defects.
In the UK, CCTV is a pervasive technology however there is very little general guidance on its design and use. Research in the fundamental human factors issues is very limited and any guidance that exists appears to be very much application specific. At a basic level the successful use of CCTV relies on the skill and competence of operators performing complex visual tasks, supported by the technical capabilities of image quality, complexity and temporal aspects such as speed of change in the visual scene.
Brief Summary of Research Methods:
The focus of investigation within this work package has been drawn Network Rail’s interest in station security and the associated issues of identifying suspicious activities.
A variety of methods are being used in this work:
- literature reviews to provide a context and basis for work conducted in this work package
- field observation at signal boxes, using expert users (signallers) to gain an understanding of CCTV use for crossing safety
- expert consultation with Network Rail to clarify focus of investigation
- experimental approach using laboratory studies to investigate specific issues in CCTV use
- field observation at stations, using station security personnel to develop wider understanding of issues at station level
Original project scope and objectives:
The main aim of the project is to examine and make recommendations for the optimum use of CCTV on the railway network.
Specific objectives are:
- to identify salient characteristics of objects, people and their behaviours in railway settings on which to base a human factors experimental programme, construction of algorithms for automated analysis of security video
- to prioritise the critical human factors and develop an experimental programme to investigate the key human factors issues to do with monitoring of CCTV
- to develop a hybrid (in technical and organisational terms) human and automated monitoring system for security related CCTV in a railway context
- to make proposals for implementation and management of security CCTV monitoring for railway use and generalised more widely, which best integrates human and automated inspection capabilities now and in the future.
Work done & remaining:
Two literature reviews have been completed (one general review and another specifically focussed on CCTV for railway applications). Two field visits have been conducted at signal boxes and three experiments have been conducted to investigate the use of CCTV and aspects of suspicious behaviour.
Work is now being focussed on field observation of CCTV use at stations (possibly with London Underground) to underpin the experimental work already conducted and develop the framework for classifying suspicious behaviour at stations in more detail.
Outputs: