Fatigue among Indonesian Freight-Train Drivers: A study utilizing eye blink duration and changes in facial expressions

Fatigue (and sleepiness) is a critical factor that plays an important role in a number of incidents in the railway sector. This has been a major issue in Indonesia particularly among freight-train drivers. The goal of the present study was to examine the degree of fatigue among freight train drivers across three different shifts and two types of coal cars loading (empty vs. loaded). A video camera was placed on the dashboard inside the locomotive cabin, capturing the face of the train drivers continuously throughout the duration of the driving tasks. In addition to the use of subjective measures, blink duration and video ratings were analyzed every 30 min to determine the level of fatigue. Findings of this study demonstrated that fatigue risks were moderate to excessive. As predicted, fatigue increased as a function of task duration, and more substantial levels of fatigue were observed during afternoon and evening shifts. Note that fatigue was also found to be associated with empty train cars. This was likely due to the fact that this particular train received the lowest priority and stopped very frequently. Such conditions could result in more monotonous and tiresome driving tasks, which lead to greater levels of fatigue. While driving for up to about four hours continuously was generally acceptable for the morning shift, such duration was not recommended for the rest of the driving conditions. Findings of this study could be used by the company management as a basis for improving operational aspects.