Using Light to Reduce Fatigue and Improve Alertness in Railway Operations

With the advent and increasing prevalence of driverless train operation, dispatch centers are becoming more central to reliable and safe transportation worldwide. Dispatchers are, however, highly susceptible to the detrimental effects of sleepiness and related impairment of work performance.

The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's Rail Safety IDEA Final Report 40: Using Light to Reduce Fatigue and Improve Alertness in Railway Operations finds that red light in combination with white light has a potential to be an effective countermeasure to increase alertness and performance in the workplace, without compromising occupants’ visual comfort.