Assessing Passenger Comfort in Compartments of Long Distance Conventional Trains: A Case Study
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Abstract
In developing countries that still use conventional trains, passengers spend lengthy hours on board while they can have the option of choosing air travel with much shorter duration. Hence environmental factors play an important role in overall comfort of passengers and modal share of railways. In this cross-sectioned research, a questionnaire is developed that quantifies evaluations of passengers from factors such as light, temperature, noise and vibrations. An 11-hour journey between Tehran, the capital of Iran, and the second major city and two trains (five-star and four-star) are selected. Passengers responded to paper questionnaires and 382 fully filled ones were collected and analyzed. Satisfaction from light was highest and thermal comfort was lowest. There was statistically significant difference between comfort of passengers at two trains. The results also showed that some personal or health conditions affect feelings of passengers. For instance, those who suffer from low blood pressure feel cold or those that wear glasses for reading are not satisfied with illumination. Moreover, the elderly are more sensitive to vibrations but those who travel with their families are less sensitive to it. The results of this research can help in better allocation of compartments to passengers and increasing overall passenger satisfaction.
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WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION 2018. Global status report on road safety 2018: Summary. World Health Organization.
XU, J., YANG, K. & SHAO, Y.-M. 2018. Ride comfort of passenger cars on two-lane mountain highways based on tri-axial acceleration from field driving tests. International Journal of Civil Engineering, 16, 335-351.
YE, X., LU, H., LI, D., SUN, B. & LIU, Y. 2004. Thermal comfort and air quality in passenger rail cars. International Journal of Ventilation, 3, 183-192.
AHMADPOUR, N., ROBERT, J.-M. & LINDGAARD, G. 2016. Aircraft passenger comfort experience: Underlying factors and differentiation from discomfort. Applied Ergonomics, 52, 301-308.
AMPOFO, F., MAIDMENT, G. & MISSENDEN, J. 2004. Underground railway environment in the UK Part 1: review of thermal comfort. Applied Thermal Engineering, 24, 611-631.
BLAINEY, S., HICKFORD, A. & PRESTON, J. 2012. Barriers to passenger rail use: a review of the evidence. Transport Reviews, 32, 675-696.
CORTINA, J. M. 1993. What is coefficient alpha? An examination of theory and applications. Journal of applied psychology, 78, 98.
DEB, C., RAMACHANDRAIAH, A. J. B. & ENVIRONMENT 2010. Evaluation of thermal comfort in a rail terminal location in India. 45, 2571-2580.
EBOLI, L. & MAZZULLA, G. J. T. P. 2011. A methodology for evaluating transit service quality based on subjective and objective measures from the passenger’s point of view. 18, 172-181.
GERLICI, J., LACK, T. & ONDROVA, Z. 2007. Evaluation of comfort for passengers of railway vehicles. Communications-Scientific letters of the University of Zilina, 9, 44-49.
HAN, J., KWON, S.-B., CHUN, C. J. B. & ENVIRONMENT 2016. Indoor environment and passengers’ comfort in subway stations in Seoul. 104, 221-231.
HARDY, A. J. J. O. S. & VIBRATION 2000. Measurement and assessment of noise within passenger trains. 231, 819-829.
HIEMSTRA-VAN MASTRIGT, S., GROENESTEIJN, L., VINK, P. & KUIJT-EVERS, L. F. 2017. Predicting passenger seat comfort and discomfort on the basis of human, context and seat characteristics: a literature review. Ergonomics, 60, 889-911.
HUANG, W. & SHUAI, B. J. J. O. M. T. 2018. A methodology for calculating the passenger comfort benefits of railway travel. 26, 107-118.
IVANESCU, M., NEACSU, C., TABACU, S. & TABACU, I. The human thermal comfort evaluation inside the passenger compartment. World Automotive Congress, Budapest, Hungary, 2010. 196-209.
KATAVOUTAS, G., ASSIMAKOPOULOS, M. N. & ASIMAKOPOULOS, D. N. J. S. O. T. T. E. 2016. On the determination of the thermal comfort conditions of a metropolitan city underground railway. 566, 877-887.
KOGI, K. J. E. 1979. Passenger requirements and ergonomics in public transport. 22, 631-639.
KONSTANTINOV, M. & WAGNER, C. Flow and thermal comfort simulations for double decker train cabins with passengers. Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Railway Technology: Research, Development and Maintenance, 2016.
KOTRLIK, J. & HIGGINS, C. 2001. Organizational research: Determining appropriate sample size in survey research appropriate sample size in survey research. Information technology, learning, and performance journal, 19, 43.
KUMAR, V., RASTOGI, V. & PATHAK, P. M. 2017. Simulation for whole-body vibration to assess ride comfort of a low–medium speed railway vehicle. Simulation, 93, 225-236.
LAI, W.-T. & CHEN, C.-F. J. T. P. 2011. Behavioral intentions of public transit passengers—The roles of service quality, perceived value, satisfaction and involvement. 18, 318-325.
MOHAMMADI, A., AMADOR-JIMENEZ, L. & NASIRI, F. 2020. A multi-criteria assessment of the passengers’ level of comfort in urban railway rolling stock. Sustainable Cities and Society, 53, 101892.
POWELL, J. & PALACÍN, R. 2015. Passenger stability within moving railway vehicles: limits on maximum longitudinal acceleration. Urban Rail Transit, 1, 95-103.
RAJA COMPANY. 2021. Description of trains and on-board services [Online]. Available: https://www.raja.ir/ [Accessed 05/04/2021].
RICHARDS, L. G., JACOBSON, I. D. & KUHLTHAU, A. J. A. E. 1978a. What the passenger contributes to passenger comfort. 9, 137-142.
RICHARDS, L. G., JACOBSON, I. D. & KUHLTHAU, A. R. 1978b. What the passenger contributes to passenger comfort. Applied Ergonomics, 9, 137-142.
RIPAMONTI, F. & CHIARABAGLIO, A. 2019. A smart solution for improving ride comfort in high-speed railway vehicles. Journal of Vibration and Control, 25, 1958-1973.
SCHMELING, D. & BOSBACH, J. 2017. On the influence of sensible heat release on displacement ventilation in a train compartment. Building and Environment, 125, 248-260.
SCHMELING, D. & VOLKMANN, A. 2020. On the experimental investigation of novel low-momentum ventilation concepts for cooling operation in a train compartment. Building and Environment, 182, 107116.
WALGAMA, C., FACKRELL, S., KARIMI, M., FARTAJ, A. & RANKIN, G. 2006. Passenger thermal comfort in vehicles-a review. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering, 220, 543-562.
WILSON, J. R. 2007. People and rail systems: human factors at the heart of the railway, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
WILSON, J. R. & NORRIS, B. J. 2005. Rail human factors: Past, present and future. Applied ergonomics, 36, 649-660.
WILSON, J. R. & NORRIS, B. J. 2006. Human factors in support of a successful railway: a review. Cognition, Technology & Work, 8, 4-14.
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION 2018. Global status report on road safety 2018: Summary. World Health Organization.
XU, J., YANG, K. & SHAO, Y.-M. 2018. Ride comfort of passenger cars on two-lane mountain highways based on tri-axial acceleration from field driving tests. International Journal of Civil Engineering, 16, 335-351.
YE, X., LU, H., LI, D., SUN, B. & LIU, Y. 2004. Thermal comfort and air quality in passenger rail cars. International Journal of Ventilation, 3, 183-192.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 14 No 2 (2022) | |
| Section | Original Article(s) | |
| Published | 2022-09-30 | |
| Keywords | ||
| passenger comfort environmental factors railway quality of traveling | ||
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
How to Cite
1.
Khadem Sameni M, Ghaem Maghami MS, Sadeghi Naeini H. Assessing Passenger Comfort in Compartments of Long Distance Conventional Trains: A Case Study. Int J Occup Hyg. 2022;14(2):157-163.
