Title: Disruption management processes during emergencies on the railways

Authors: David Golightly; Nastaran Dadashi; Sarah Sharples; Meena Dasigi

Addresses: Human Factors Research Group, University of Nottingham, University Park, NG7 2RD, UK ' Human Factors Research Group, University of Nottingham, University Park, NG7 2RD, UK ' Human Factors Research Group, University of Nottingham, University Park, NG7 2RD, UK ' Network Rail, No. 1 Eversholt Street, London, NW1 2DN, UK

Abstract: The following study presents an analysis of incident logs, recorded during major rail incidents (incurring more than 1,000 minutes total delay) to understand regular patterns in management and resolution across different incident types and across multiple roles. The analysis found that much effort goes into coordination of multiple actors and diagnosing both the cause and scale of the disrupting factor, as would be expected. Rather than events taking place merely in parallel, they are closely intertwined, with activities in one area (e.g., repairs to reopen track) being constrained by other activities (e.g., coordinating and mobilising appropriate people, arranging track access within a rescheduled service). These results question existing linear models of disruption management, both at an individual and organisational level, and have implications for decision-support for emergency management.

Keywords: rail incidents; railways; disruption management; incident management; decision support; incident analysis; emergency management; human factors.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHFE.2013.057619

International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics, 2013 Vol.2 No.2/3, pp.175 - 195

Received: 17 Nov 2012
Accepted: 14 Aug 2013

Published online: 30 Apr 2014 *

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