Railways are a major and well-used transport systems in Japan. Ergonomic studies have been conducted since the establishment of the Railway Labor Science Institute in 1963. The main purpose of applying the ergonomic approach to railway transport is for improvements in passenger/employee safety and comfort. This paper outlines a brief history and recent topics to this methodology. In particular, we focus on a transdisciplinary approach in cooperation with other appropriate research fields, such as safety equipment, vehicle dynamics, architecture and information technology. Major topics discussed will include: joint studies with train protection systems on human error prevention, with vehicle dynamics on passengers’ motion and injuries caused by train collisions and riding comfort evaluations.