Elron plans AI alertness monitors for all trains

Estonian train operator Elron plans to equip all its trains with artificial intelligence-based alertness devices that analyse drivers’ attention and micro-sleep, ERR reported. The company’s plan has not been welcomed by all train drivers.

Train drivers have been required for decades to press a so-called dead man’s button. Elron now wants to add a system that monitors a driver’s facial expressions to assess attention and fatigue and, when necessary, help wake the driver.

“It assesses whether the driver looks away for too long or deals with other things. If the driver is sufficiently tired, closes their eyes and micro-sleep occurs, the system gives a signal through a seat-vibration alarm if their eyes have remained closed for more than 1.5 seconds,” said Madis Paukson, Elron’s railway safety specialist. He said the alarm does not deliver an electric shock but causes an unpleasant vibration.

Paukson said the additional alert was necessary, although pressing the alertness button was more convenient and could gradually become an automatic action. The new system has been tested for six months, but not all drivers have agreed to use it. Elron hopes no one will leave the profession because of the system and that it can be trained to allow drivers to work without disturbance.

A digital map is also being introduced to help prevent dangerous situations. It contains all speed limits in force on the railway and monitors compliance. If something happens to the driver and their alertness disappears, the map can begin slowing the train and, if a dangerous traffic situation develops, stop it.

The digital map is currently in use on the Tallinn to Tapa line. It will next be introduced on the Tallinn to Tartu line.