Ideal workstation design of driver’s cab for new EMU rake of Mumbai local

Abstract

The Mumbai Suburban Railway is the first rail system in India which began services in Mumbai in 1867 transports today about 6.3 million passengers daily and has the highest passenger density in the world. Considering the age old existing workstation design a new ergonomics based design approach is undertaken to redesign the workstation with advanced instrumentation. In present situation drivers have difficulty in external visibility along with associated musculo-skeletal and psychophysical stresses as obtained from direct discussions and questionnaire feedback. A user centered approach on Drivers behaviour and understanding the issues while driving were made on board by personal interview and observation method. Based on collected anthropometric data a 3D model of the chair and the workstation were made by using solidworks CAD software. The CAD drawing was then converted to a full scale prototype for simulation study. Special care was taken for rearrangement of different control panels according to drivers’ suitability. Driving comfort was also taken into consideration while designing the ideal workstation.