Advice requested on staying focused

[HarryKane]

I’ve recently had 2 fail to calls in close proximity basically both caused by not dealing with a distraction properly causing me to miss my stop.

I’m interested in finding out what others do to help remain focused during long journeys, if anybody has had this happen before and what tips people would suggest moving forward for my commitment plan?

Obviously I will make my own decision at the end but I would find this helpful as a newly qualified driver.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Presume you're not sleepy or losing concentration? No health conditions you haven't declared? Are you doing metro-type work with frequent stopping patterns?. Were these two fail-to-calls at stations you wouldn't normally stop at, but were instructed to (due to works/cancellation of other services etc). Are you being distracted by stuff going on in the cab/outside/noisy passengers?

If you're on an OHLE railway, maybe count the masts; if you're out in the country, count telegraph posts; verbalise each signal or landmark as you pass it. Write down stuff when you're not driving so you can remember

You'll get good advice on here

 

[Twotwo]

I think we need more context, was this the case of not annotating your diagram and you didn't think you was stopping at this particular station? Or did you get distracted and fly past or did you attempt to stop?

I think for me, because I do intense doo I know I'm stopping at every stop. When I'm at my stop I'm already thinking of my next stop. There's been times where I've been at my breaking area for a station and due to muscle memory I've touched the breaks then realised I ain't stopping and continued.

 

[AverageJoe]

I would hope that your driver manager would have gone over this with you and discussed what the cause was and how to avoid future mistakes.
I also would expect a plan to be arranged and maybe a NTS course?

For me I keep my diagram on the desk in front of me. Each stop I put a line through it on the diagram and then verbally call out my next stop.

I work a mix of stoppers and express so sometimes I can be flying past a certain stop and on the next trip calling at it so I need to be vigilant.

Also confirming stops with the guard and checking the stopping pattern on the station screens is a good method to make sure you are all on the same page and also haven’t accidentally picked up the wrong diagram.

since you are newly qualified and have done it twice in close proximity I imagine you may be day dreaming or something?

At the end of the day we can use tactics to help us but part of the skillset of being a driving is the ability to focus and concentrate for long periods of time in all conditions and state of alertness, it’s what’s expected of a driver and it’s why we have some of the psychometric tests.

That being said we are all human and make mistakes, so don’t try to dwell on it because that can lead to further mistakes because of misplaced concentration.

 

[HarryKane]

Bit more context for you. I’m on the east coast mainline. Some periods of quick stops but also long periods without stopping.

I have missed the same station up and down road now, first time was because a distraction outside the cab, a spate board encouraged me to take power upto line speed rather than braking for the station.

Second time I was thinking about something that was going on at work basically inside my own head about something and unable to shake it until I realised I had missed my stop and by then it was too late

 

[AverageJoe]

Bit more context for you. I’m on the east coast mainline. Some periods of quick stops but also long periods without stopping.

I have missed the same station up and down road now, first time was because a distraction outside the cab, a spate board encouraged me to take power upto line speed rather than braking for the station.

Second time I was thinking about something that was going on at work basically inside my own head about something and unable to shake it until I realised I had missed my stop and by then it was too late

To be blunt. You know not to do these things. I don’t think there is a tactic that you wouldn’t know since you are a qualified driver.

First one, obviously drive to the diagram. There will be plenty of times you are brought down or even to a stand because of signals or slow running due to following a service but a change of speed can’t distract us from the stopping pattern. A regular check of the diagram can help.

Second, something covered heavily in training in both the classroom and with the DI, focus on the job and not outside factors.
Can be easier said than done of course but if you feel you mind drifting you have to snap it out quick.

Hopefully, no harm done and you will have a long career from now mistake free, but these things are the basics that should have been well covered already.

Edit: to add to this, sometimes if I am booked to call at a station that I don’t regularly call at I will highlight it on my diagram and then put the diagram in a different place on my desk in my line of sight.
This acts as a constant reminder for me.

Maybe if this stop you keep missing is one after a long period of driving without stopping doing something like this may help you.

 

[HarryKane]

To be blunt. You know not to do these things. I don’t think there is a tactic that you wouldn’t know since you are a qualified driver.

First one, obviously drive to the diagram. There will be plenty of times you are brought down or even to a stand because of signals or slow running due to following a service but a change of speed can’t distract us from the stopping pattern. A regular check of the diagram can help.

Second, something covered heavily in training in both the classroom and with the DI, focus on the job and not outside factors.
Can be easier said than done of course but if you feel you mind drifting you have to snap it out quick.

Hopefully, no harm done and you will have a long career from now mistake free, but these things are the basics that should have been well covered already.

Edit: to add to this, sometimes if I am booked to call at a station that I don’t regularly call at I will highlight it on my diagram and then put the diagram in a different place on my desk in my line of sight.
This acts as a constant reminder for me.

Maybe if this stop you keep missing is one after a long period of driving without stopping doing something like this may help you.

Appreciate your bluntness, and to be clear I’m not looking for something that I don’t already know.

I’m interested in what others drivers are doing to maintain their focus and to see if people are doing anything different to what I am.

 

[43066]

I’m interested in what others drivers are doing to maintain their focus and to see if people are doing anything different to what I am.

Annotate your diagram, so that when you leave a station you cross that station off, say to yourself next station is X, and your train length. Then at each braking point look at your diagram, physically point to it, and confirm that you are or aren’t stopping there. That works for me - obviously it may not work for everyone.

Hopefully your driver manager has been helpful in putting together an “action plan” that takes into account the distractions you have experienced and how to guard against those particular traps. Worth speaking to the instructor/mentor team, as well as experienced colleagues, as they will have various different techniques.

 

[baz962]

Appreciate your bluntness, and to be clear I’m not looking for something that I don’t already know.

I’m interested in what others drivers are doing to maintain their focus and to see if people are doing anything different to what I am.

I will also add that in my opinion , some drivers have too many pps strategies and over complicate matters. Personally I try and remember to check my diagram just before the braking point of every stop we serve on the route. I also liven up my tms to check the train length.

 

[43066]

some drivers have too many pps strategies and over complicate matters.

Also fully agreed. Keep it simple.

 

[Yfg132]

How long have you been driving?

 

[SJN]

I also have my diagram in front of me and check it at braking points for stations not always called at. At the station before one that could be missed, I check diagram again and then keep saying the station name in my head or out loud whilst I’m driving towards it.

 

[HarryKane]

How long have you been driving?

7 months on my own

 

[reapz]

Tbh its all about knowing yourself, thats the secret. The fact you're on here trying to own it speaks volumes! It will get easier but a quick fix that might help is short break it down in your head to like 30 mins blocks like xxx to xxx is 2 hrs make it 4 trips in your head then you can break down even further to exactly whats next, dont worry about what mnight happen at a busy junction or something untill you are there

 

[Horizon22]

7 months on my own

Do you do much Risk Triggered Commentary (RTC) and verbalise out stuff "Next stop A, 10-car train" once you have left? This might feel a bit silly at first, but in a whole host of ways you can treat it like safety-critical communications and speaking something out aloud can make it much easier to remember, especially in your own voice.

 

[GemGem]

I use risk triggered commentary plus commentary driving. It works for me. As the person above has said, when you’re leaving ‘next station stop is…’ I also check my schedule frequently as I’m travelling along and will also say this out loud if there’s a bit of a gap in between stops.

 

[HarryKane]

I’m thinking in my commitment that at clear aws notifications that I check my
Sheila and verbalise my breaking point. This will likely keep me focused for the journey.

This week I had quite a lot happen to me on my trip, more than I have ever experienced before and I didn’t realise how much it had affected me until it was too late unfortunately, it’s only until I’ve spoken it through with other drivers in my mess room today that they made me realise how much stress I would have been under and that I should have taken a minute to regain my thoughts before leaving.

Obviously you learn from these experiences and move on.

Appreciate the advice everyone!

 

[Horizon22]

it’s only until I’ve spoken it through with other drivers in my mess room today that they made me realise how much stress I would have been under and that I should have taken a minute to regain my thoughts before leaving.

Really good advice. If you need to take 30-60 seconds to compose yourself before setting off, then do so. The performance impact of taking time is well behind the safety impact of you not taking time, and your state of mind is paramount.

You have engaged and looked for support which is very much the right mentality; you want to learn from your mistakes and not repeat them.

 

[whoosh]

@HarryKane

Have diagram visible and facing you - some rolling stock out there have terrible positions for a clip board facing 90⁰ to you! Use your own clipboard, or magnetic clip, suction cup clip, blue tac or whatever.
Check it religiously. Even when you know you aren't stopping at a station, and are feeling alert and in control, check it. Make it a habit to check. That way, if you zone out and are on 'autopilot', because you always check, you'll find you automatically check. This has saved me as I was concentrating on slowing for a speed board at the far end of a platform, but found myself automatically checking, and my amended job had me calling at the station that day!
Risk Triggered Commentary can be good. I use that a lot.

Don't rush. Take it steady.

When there's a lot going on, or your mind has wandered, do a 'Situational Awareness Check'.

What's the Linespeed (Blanket speed restriction?)
What was the last signal
TSRs/ESR's
Next Stop?
Next Wrong Route Risk

Write that on your diagram if you want. Then you can refer to it, and you'll know what's going on. It does knock your confidence when you mess up. If you've got a checklist like that, you can be more reassured in yourself that you know what's going on - if your mind wanders you aren't going to be panicking thinking "what have I missed? You'll have a structured way of refocusing.

Don't beat yourself up. You are taking steps to find out ways to help yourself. This is a great attitude to have.

 

[AverageJoe]

I’m thinking in my commitment that at clear aws notifications that I check my
Sheila and verbalise my breaking point. This will likely keep me focused for the journey.

This week I had quite a lot happen to me on my trip, more than I have ever experienced before and I didn’t realise how much it had affected me until it was too late unfortunately, it’s only until I’ve spoken it through with other drivers in my mess room today that they made me realise how much stress I would have been under and that I should have taken a minute to regain my thoughts before leaving.

Obviously you learn from these experiences and move on.

Appreciate the advice everyone!

Something my instructor told me was when the “stuff” hits the fan, wind your watch.

I’ve always remembered this and found it helpful.

 

[HarryKane]

Do you do much Risk Triggered Commentary (RTC) and verbalise out stuff "Next stop A, 10-car train" once you have left? This might feel a bit silly at first, but in a whole host of ways you can treat it like safety-critical communications and speaking something out aloud can make it much easier to remember, especially in your own voice.

Yeah I do that, unfortunately on this trip I was signalled out an unusual way to normal on restrictives so I was focused on where my next signal was and not doing my normal train out commentary which obviously caused me to slip up moments later

 

[driver9000]

Yeah I do that, unfortunately on this trip I was signalled out an unusual way to normal on restrictives so I was focused on where my next signal was and not doing my normal train out commentary which obviously caused me to slip up moments later

It's great that that you're seeking advice and I hope tactics and a supportive action plan going forward has been drawn up between you and your managers? Concentrating on the immediate task is absolutely the right thing to do and in this case target fixing on the red signal but it needs to be followed up with further checks once the situation changes. When I find myself in this scenario I verbalise the next stop when the signals clear and check my docket to confirm that I've got it right. If it's a station with an irregular calling pattern I highlight it on the page too. Some Drivers use post it notes stuck to the desk to draw their attention to unusual stops and discard it once the station has been called at.

Use Risk Triggered Commentary and don't be tempted to rush plus what happens in the mess room stays there, you've got to compartmentalise your mind in this job to keep outside distractions to a minimum.

 

[LCC106]

The only other thing to add from my viewpoint is if your head gets distracted and full of outside stuff make a note on a piece of paper and get it out of your head. You can deal with it later.

 

[357]

Do you have an iPad?

In my old job, I used to generally run all stations with an 8 car train 95% of the time.

When I was running 4 or 12 cars, I'd turn up the sound on the iPad, if I was skipping stations I'd use the other layout in TAS that had the next calling point in far larger text.


Before someone comments, I never changed the sliders below the DRA as half the time they were stuck and couldn't move easily. The TMS and my highly professional paper reminders aren't going to lie to me!

 

[baz962]

Do you have an iPad?

In my old job, I used to generally run all stations with an 8 car train 95% of the time.

When I was running 4 or 12 cars, I'd turn up the sound on the iPad, if I was skipping stations I'd use the other layout in TAS that had the next calling point in far larger text.

View attachment 174007
Before someone comments, I never changed the sliders below the DRA as half the time they were stuck and couldn't move easily. The TMS and my highly professional paper reminders aren't going to lie to me!

Hopefully a stiff breeze doesn't blow the bits of paper off , with one landing upside down on the tms screen

 

[357]

Hopefully a stiff breeze doesn't blow the bits of paper off , with one landing upside down on the tms screen

They are safely tucked under the rubber on the top of the dash

 

[dctraindriver]

Yeah I do that, unfortunately on this trip I was signalled out an unusual way to normal on restrictives so I was focused on where my next signal was and not doing my normal train out commentary which obviously caused me to slip up moments later

Once something happens and it’s something new and you have an issue due to it, you should find its burned on the brain. When something happens out of the ordinary from now on I expect you’ll pay attention to the immediate task in hand. Short journey concept is really useful.

Spate boards, ESRs and dealing with them then taking power in a different part of your journey can lead to people failing to call. Happened to a couple at my depot. Don’t always feel the need to go for full power even on greens so you buy yourself some time.

Above all keep it simple, use protection strategies that are effective. If a manager suggests placing more things to do between each station stop question if that’s really going to help. We had one driver who had so much going on in his plan that it wasn’t sustainable and he had another incident.

Some good advice above by others, I like NTS, RTC, short journey.

Good luck hope it all settles down, you’re a PQ driver and there’s a lot that’s new for you to deal with.

 

[HarryKane]

Appreciate everyone’s advice on here, still waiting on the outcome but I’ve been told it’s not affecting my job security. Expecting a long term plan, but hey, if you don’t learn from these new experiences it’s only gonna happen again!

 

[PLY2AYS]

Sorry to hear about the incidents.

With RTC, I will always repeat the danger or important thing 3 times (some psychology about saying something 3 times gets it out of short term and into medium term memory apparently)
So when I’m passing a single yellow, I’ll narrate “single yellow, RED, RED, RED ahead”
I’ll also press the AWS button in time with or at the same tempo as the word “red” (x3) to reinforce the words with action. Physically doing it can centre your mind more than just visual stimulus.

When I’m in quieter periods/longer signal sections, I’ll check my diagram to bring my mind back to the job at hand.

And if there’s any speed changes/restrictions; I’ll say those out loud, with “next station stop is… “ after it, just to remind myself again.

Hope they help!

 

[tlionhart]

Try breaking the route up in sections. This works well on both long distance and short work. On long distance it keeps you focused and short make the trip less tedious.
(Don’t sign ECML) Example would be: Euston-wembley-Watford-Milton k-rugby and so on.

Keep checking your diagram and highlight unusual stops or keep checking your schedule card especially at shutting off points

If you sign 800, turn the TMS screen off. It usually fires up approaching a station. Obviously don’t rely on this but can be useful for when you’ve made a mistake.

Ultimately whatever works for you