ABSTRACT
Following a previous study investigating the effect of railway signal backplate design on driver responses using an impoverished computer simulation (Li et al, 2002), further work was carried out to test the railway signal design/layout features in a more realistic VR environment. The aims of this study were to test the effects of different signal backplate design and layout schemes on driver responses, including the distance to the signal when its aspect can be identified, signal reading error rate for the association of signal with the line of travel, and the driver subjective opinions on each signal design scheme. This work was the second part of a 3-phase study aimed at identifying the optimum signal design scheme for the Paddington Throat.
