Introduction
Train driving is a cognitively demanding task that requires vigilance and attention to ensure safety; impairments in these processes contribute to operating incidents such as SPADs (Signal Pass at Danger) and station overruns.
Purpose
This study reports the evaluation of VigilMente, a psychological training designed to strengthen vigilance and risk awareness among train drivers of TPer (Italian railway company), and its effectiveness in improving knowledge relevant to safe train operation.
Method
The intervention consisted of a single 3-hour session delivered by traffic psychologists, utilizing brief theoretical inputs, guided discussions, multimedia demonstrations, and experiential tasks (e.g., selective attention and interference exercises). Content was tailored to drivers' work contexts under a just-culture framework, covering sustained, selective, and divided attention, attentional blindness, interference, automatism, and risk perception. Effectiveness was assessed with a pre-post design using a 7-item multiple-choice knowledge test. Anonymous responses were paired via participant codes. A total of 417 drivers provided matched data; repeated-measures ANOVA tested the change in total and item scores, with training site (Bologna, Ferrara, Piacenza, or Reggio Emilia) and instructor (the traffic psychologists) as control factors.
Results
Knowledge improved significantly from pre- to post-training on the total score (F(1,415)=198.76, p<.001), with no differences by site or instructor. Significant item-level gains were observed for attentional blindness (F=195.24, p<.001), interference (F=59.78, p<.001), sustained attention (F=27.74, p<.001), and selective attention (F=7.17, p=.008). The risk-perception item showed no improvement, likely due to a reversed instruction that many misread. Acceptability was high, with 92% of participants satisfied.
Conclusions
A concise, psychologically grounded intervention yielded robust gains in drivers' knowledge of attentional mechanisms relevant to rail safety. Future iterations should refine the assessment of risk perception, incorporate scenario-based decision training, and address emotional factors that influence attention under operational stress.