Impact of Train and Station Types on Perceived Quality of Rail Service

Abstract

This paper aims to highlight the impact of train and station types in the evaluation of service quality, whilst taking account of a range of relevant trip and socio-demographic factors. It applies a partial constrained proportional odds model (an extension of ordered logit model) to data extracted from the 32 nd wave of the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) held in spring 2015, which comprises around 30,000 trip-level observations of passenger satisfaction of rail services across Great Britain.The results indicate that the impact of train types on service quality is significant. Thus, for type of train services the modelling results indicate that high speed rail, long distance, inter urban rail and especially open access operators are more likely to lead to satisfied customers compared to commuter and rural railway services. For stations, users of the smallest station category are more likely to be satisfied than those of larger category stations, but other station types do not significantly impact satisfaction. Next, delays have a significant negative impact on satisfaction levels. Considering passenger segments, respondents in the oldest age category are more likely to be satisfied compared to respondents in the youngest age category and commuters are less likely to be satisfied compared to respondents on a business or leisure trip. Overall these results show how TOCs (Train Operating Companies) might best focus their efforts on improving passenger satisfaction according to train type, station type, and trip stage and/or user segment.Monsuur, Enoch, Quddus, Meek 3 INTRODUCTION Delivering a quality service that meets the expectations and needs of its customers is an important commercial aspect of running a railway. This is for three reasons. First, dissatisfied passengers might switch to alternative travel modes if these are available or else decide not to travel at all, whereas satisfied passengers tend to be loyal to the railway mode (1,2,3,4). Second, satisfaction is of importance for railway companies because it is used to monitor and benchmark performance and increasingly such satisfaction measures relate directly to payments made to TOCs (Train Operating Companies) as part of their franchise agreements, e.g. the Thameslink, Great Northern and Southern franchise (5). Third, poor satisfaction might lead to reputational damage for TOCs (6), which may further lead to longer term impacts on both patronage levels and the chances of winning/retaining future franchise competitions. Taken together, underperformance in terms of passenger satisfaction can significantly impact on the profitability of a TOC, as margins are already small -with a maximum of around 5% (7). However, despite widespread recognition of the importance of passenger satisfaction across the UK rail sector, in practice improving the situation has proven difficult to achieve. For instance, the average level of passenger satisfaction in 2015 was only 80% -that is 5% lower level than in 2010 (8).In attempting to explain this, perhaps the...

Preferences in regional public transport: a literature review

“…Comfort in terms of station facilities is reported to have less impact on perceived service quality in regional public transport [68], although the results of our review suggest that this conclusion might require modification. On-board comfort is clearly important for medium and long regional trips, but there are indications that station facilities are more important for short regional trips.…”

“…Still, punctuality is the most common measure of reliability, and it is shown that delays significantly impact the level of passenger satisfaction [68]. Higher probability of delays also decreases the probability of choosing public transport modes [39,43].…”

“…The notion of comfort covers a wide range of quality attributes, for example, station facilities, crowding, noise, ride comfort, etc. In general, on-board facilities have a higher impact on perceived service quality in regional public transport than station facilities [68]. Complementary services such as on-board Wi-Fi may also significantly impact modal choice in favour of public transport [70].…”

Where is the happy transit rider? Evaluating satisfaction with regional rail service using a spatial segmentation approach

“…Additionally, it is interesting to note, that each group of users reported higher average satisfaction with on-time performance than communication of delays. Delays incurred by passengers have negative effects on overall satisfaction levels reported by customers (41). However, policies aimed at minimizing frustration and confusion in the event of a delay are important and cost-effective strategies that will likely lead to a higher perceived service quality and should not be over-looked by transit agencies.…”

Understanding the Role of Cycling to Urban Transit Stations through a Simultaneous Access Mode and Station Choice Model

“…Most studies have investigated either access mode ( 6 – 9 ) or station choice ( 10 , 11 ). However, studying the combination of these choice dimensions could shed light on important trade-offs that cannot be captured otherwise.…”