Project overview
This project, undertaken in partnership with Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), used Stated Preference survey methods to understand how rail passengers might respond to information provided about crowding levels. Crowded trains can adversely affect the experience of rail passengers. They can also cause practical issues for train operators, especially if slow boarding and alighting at stations makes it hard to maintain tight dwell times. It is thought that some of these issues can be mitigated by providing better information to passengers and encouraging them to make different travel choices as a result.
At one level, the choice of carriage on a particular train is important – by spreading passenger loading more evenly throughout a train, it may be possible to reduce the number of instances of overcrowding.
At another level, the choice of train itself is important. If passengers can be encouraged to travel on alternative, more lightly loaded, services this will also help to mitigate some of the problems. An increasing number of data sources for monitoring train loading are becoming available, including on-train systems which can estimate the number of passengers in a given carriage.
Methods of communicating with passengers are also becoming more sophisticated, with an increased use of real-time information systems and a high proportion of smartphone users.
The main aims of this project were to prove that it is feasible to mitigate crowding by improving information provision and influencing passenger choice, and to understand how such information should best be presented.
At one level, the choice of carriage on a particular train is important – by spreading passenger loading more evenly throughout a train, it may be possible to reduce the number of instances of overcrowding.
At another level, the choice of train itself is important. If passengers can be encouraged to travel on alternative, more lightly loaded, services this will also help to mitigate some of the problems. An increasing number of data sources for monitoring train loading are becoming available, including on-train systems which can estimate the number of passengers in a given carriage.
Methods of communicating with passengers are also becoming more sophisticated, with an increased use of real-time information systems and a high proportion of smartphone users.
The main aims of this project were to prove that it is feasible to mitigate crowding by improving information provision and influencing passenger choice, and to understand how such information should best be presented.
