Regional Rail Research Articles

The impact of the transport offer on passenger volume on regional rail transport in the Lower Silesian province

Abstrakt: Factors affecting passenger behaviour can be divided into the internal (relating to transport supply) and the external (which are independent of carriers). The literature emphasises that, as rail transport develops, supply becomes comparable along many routes, leaving external factors to be regarded as increasingly important. In contrast, the authors of this article consider that deregulation and transformation of the rail transport system in Poland have ensured that internal factors continue to exert the primary influence on passenger behaviour in this country. The work detailed in this article has thus sought to demonstrate the impact of transport supply on passenger volume at individual stations in those towns and cities of the region of Lower Silesia that have access to rail passenger transport throughout the year.

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

Public transit agencies are delivering transport services in a rapidly changing and highly competitive transportation market. Ensuring rider’s satisfaction in such an environment has led several public transit agencies to adopt different marketing strategies. For example, market segmentation analyses are commonly employed by transit agencies to identify groups of users, which are subsequently used as a base for developing policies and strategies aimed at improving customer satisfaction. However, previous studies adopting this market segmentation approach have predominantly ignored spatial and contextual factors related to the transit network and the built environment of where a user resides, resulting in network-wide policies that are difficult to implement especially for agencies with scarce resources. This study presents a new segmentation approach that incorporates spatial and contextual factors in addition to other rider’s preferences and satisfaction levels with commuter rail service in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Canada. Including these factors in a market segmentation analysis has enabled us to recommend service interventions at a local and finer scale compared to previous studies, while at the same time providing the greatest impact on a specified segment of riders. This research provides transit planners and policy makers with a spatial segmentation approach, which can be used to maximize the benefits of service improvements intended to increase satisfaction with public transit among certain groups of users in a region.

Lessons from the past: isotopes of an endangered rail as indicators of underlying change to tidal marsh habitats

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Tidal marsh systems along the Pacific coast of the United States have experienced substantial stress and loss of area and ecosystem function, which we examined by using the endangered California Ridgway’s Rail, Rallus obsoletus obsoletus (‘rail’) as an indicator of its tidal marsh habitat in the San Francisco Estuary. We organized a collection of historical (1885-1940) and modern (2005-2014) rail feathers and analyzed the feather isotope means for delta carbon (δ13C), sulfur (δ34S), and nitrogen (δ15N) by region and time period.Outcomes: Feather isotopes represented the primary foraging habitat during historical then modern time periods. Neither individual nor regional rail feather isotopes suggested freshwater or terrestrial foraging by the rail. Three regions with both historic and modern feather isotopes revealed non-uniform spatial shifts in isotope levels consistent with a marine based food web and significant δ15N enrichment.Discussion: Our results supported the rail’s status as a generalist forager and obligate tidal marsh species throughout the historic record. The variable isoscape trends generated from feather isotope means illustrated a modern loss of the isotopic homogeneity between regions of historical tidal marsh, which correlated with spatially-explicit habitat alterations such as increasing biological invasions and sewage effluent over time.Conclusion: These findings have reinforced the importance of tidal marsh conservation in the face of ongoing underlying changes to these important ecosystems.

A study of vertical separation in Japanese passenger railways

In recent years, the Japanese railway sector adopted vertical separation in certain circumstances. This research investigated the recent Japanese policies and clarified the characteristics of vertically separated railways in Japan compared with those in Europe. When we consider the current status of Japanese railways where traffic is dense on many lines, the study concludes that a single railway company should manage railway operations as a whole even if the public sector retains ownership of the infrastructure. As one of the lessons learned from European experiences, it appears worthwhile to introduce railway operations based on a public-private contract for more cases in regional rail transport in Japan.

Does expanding regional train service reduce air pollution?

We assess how regional rail service affects air pollution in Germany, where rail service is procured in auctions or negotiations. We argue that the procurement mode is plausibly exogenous, and show that auctions deliver stronger rail service growth than negotiations. Instrumenting rail service growth with procurement mode, we find that increasing rail service by 10% reduces carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide pollution by around 1% and 2%, respectively. Sulfur dioxide and ozone, pollutants with no clear link to rail, are not affected. Expanding rail service reduces car and motorcycle use, especially on leisure and shopping trips. The effects of railway services on car and motorcycle use and on air pollution build up over time. Lives saved by reducing pollution via rail service growth are worth substantially more than the required subsidies.

Network Vulnerability Analysis of Rail Transit Plans in Beijng-Tianjin-Hebei Region Considering Connectivity Reliability

In the context of the urban agglomeration and the rapid development of rail transit, the planning of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region (BTHR) rail transit 2020 is attracting attention. The BTHR is a natural disaster-prone area and a high-risk area for terrorist attacks; the robustness of the area is critical to the sustainable development of North China. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the vulnerability of the regional planning rail transit network. This paper builds a model of planning regional rail transit in BTHR. A critical node recognition measure is designed according to the connectivity reliability of nodes. The method of Monte Carlo simulation of node connectivity reliability is applied based on link connectivity probability. In addition, a model of detecting multi-measure recognition and detecting Core-Nodes is proposed. Finally, the paper analyzes the impact of multiple attack modes on the network performance from the aspects of network performance within region and transit demand outside the region, and analyzes the vulnerability of the BTHR planning rail transit network.

Investigating Intercity Rail Transit Scope with Social Economy Accessibility: Case Study of the Pearl River Delta Region in China

In response to challenges caused by high gasoline prices, traffic congestion, and greenhouse gas emissions, smart internment on intercity rail transit infrastructures and service suggests a rekindling of many countries’ interest in offering a range of benefits over automobile travels. In order to check the suitability of the proposed intercity rail transit system with the local conditions in a region, models for relating the intercity rail transit scope and social economy factors have been developed with the datasets obtained in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region in Guangdong Province, China. In this paper, the accessibility-based approach is presented to explore the impact of the intercity rail transit system planning on the regional development. The impact of three typical accessibility variables, transportation, population, and economic accessibilities, are considered in the approach. The global rail transit scope planning models are developed by using the regression technique to correlate the lengths of 254 regional intercity rail transit systems in different countries in the world with social economy factors. Those models are used for estimating the intercity rail transit size for the PRD region. The modeled transit scopes are examined with spatial distributions of the defined three accessibilities at each node (or centroid center of a town) in a Geographic Information System environment. The developed method has been proven helpful to understanding the gap between transport supply and potential travel demand and the suitability of each node to alignment of each rail transit route through the PRD region case study.

A long-term analysis of passenger flows on a regional rail line

A long-term analysis of passenger flows on a regional rail line

Structural comparison and enlightenment for regional rails in metropolitan areas

Abstract Based on the division of zones in metropolitan areas, the differences in the scale, functions, passage and hubs between Tokyo, New York and Paris are compared and it is indicated that three cities have different kinds of railway network structure. Considering spatial structure of cities and the historical process, this paper analyzes the influence of resident-employment distribution and the development background on the planning of regional rails. We also explain how these three kinds of structure were formed and summarize technical essentials of the planning of regional rails in international metropolitan areas, which would provide a reference for the planning and the construction of regional rails in China.

Trip Generation Rates at Park-and-Ride Facilities with Regional Bus and Light Rail Service: A Supplement to ITE Trip Generation Data

A park-and-ride (P&R) is a parking facility with connections to public transit service. The ITE Trip Generation Manual, ninth edition, presented trip generation rates separately for P&R facilities with bus and light rail service; however, the small sample sizes (maximum sample size was six studies) and outdated trip generation rates (between the 1980s and the 2000s) may not be an accurate representation for transportation engineers and planners to estimate the traffic impacts of P&R facilities correctly. This paper describes a comprehensive trip generation study that was performed at 40 regional transportation district P&R facilities in the Denver, Colorado, region with regional bus and light rail transit service. Similar to the ITE manual, this study estimated and produced weighted-average trip rates and regression equations. The sample size and variation in the data collected in this study can be used as a good representation for computing trip generation locally or for being applied to cities with similar transit systems and P&R design criteria.

‘Three raindrops and some dust’: combining archival and GIS analysis to map the spatial distribution of the impact of the Federation Drought of 1895–1903 in rural New South Wales

Stories abound about the devastating effects of Australia's Federation Drought during the early years of the twentieth century. The aim of this paper is to enhance understanding of what is widely regarded as one of the worst droughts on record in Australia by analysing its differentiated spatial impacts across rural New South Wales (NSW). Newspaper articles from the period are first used to provide a spatial disaggregation that suggests varying impacts of the drought by region. In many instances these articles also present a more human narrative of the challenges for those on the land. The paper then investigates the spatial differences further using archival and quantitative methods. First, county-level data on wheat production from the NSW Statistical Register have been assembled. These data facilitated the assessment of the spatial impact of the drought by generating a drought index for each of the forty-three counties, from which a contour map has been produced. Second, statistical information has been collected from the Annual Reports of the NSW Railway Commissioners which recorded wheat cargoes across the state's inland regional rail network. This in turn enabled assessment of the spatial impact of the drought by means of a second contour map based on ninety-one railway stations. In combination, these methods provide a richer picture, and a more detailed and precise understanding of the uneven geography of the Federation Drought of 1895–1903.

A Multi-criteria approach for choosing a new public transport system linked to urban development: a method developed in the Bahn.Ville project for a tram-train scenario in the Saint-Étienne region

The success of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) or rail oriented development depends on several factors, among them the characteristics of the public transport system should not be neglected. In the typical tram-train approaches as exemplified in the Karlsruhe experience, a new transport systems is proposed from the association of specific rolling stock, intermediate between tramways and trains, to a combination of urban tram tracks and existing conventional railway system. The adaptation to both central and peripheral contexts, and the promise of relatively low investment costs by reusing the existing infrastructure, explain the interest of such systems in metropolitan contexts. The tram-train approach combines urban considerations with functional characteristics of the transport system in order to provide new benefits in terms of accessibility, as compared to heavier systems. We propose to examine the project of the conversion of the regional rail Fraisses-Firminy-Saint-Étienne line into a tram-train corridor. This involves the introduction of a series of new stops that we want to assess: starting from a proposed list of stops, which ones should be introduced? To deal with this issue we have built a multi-criteria approach associating transport and urban considerations. The criteria include accessibility measurements, impact of each stop on the total travel time, catchment areas for population and jobs, existing urban functions in the neighbourhood of the stops, potential for urban development of housing, activities and equipment, potential for connection with other modes, and cost of construction.

A Methodology for Long-Term Analysis of Innovative Signalling Systems on Regional Rail Lines

A rail system may be considered a useful tool for reducing vehicular flows on a road system (i.e. cars and trucks), especially in high-density contexts such as urban and metropolitan areas where greenhouse gas emissions need to be abated. In particular, since travellers maximise their own utility, variations in mobility choices can be induced only by significantly improving the level-of-service of public transport. Our specific proposal is to identify the economic and environmental effects of implementing an innovative signalling system (which would reduce passenger waiting times) by performing a cost-benefit analysis based on a feasibility threshold approach. Hence, it is necessary to calculate long-term benefits and compare them with intervention costs. In this context, a key factor to be considered is travel demand estimation in current and future conditions. This approach was tested on a regional rail line in southern Italy to show the feasibility and utility of the proposed methodology.

The impact of alternative governance forms of regional public rail transport on transaction costs. Case evidence from Germany and Switzerland

This article addresses transaction costs of different governance forms in regional public rail transport by comparing Germany's competitive contract awarding model with Switzerland's direct contract awarding model. We propose a concept of transaction costs with four dimensions, namely the awarding procedure, the institutional framework, provision of system services, and the impact of learning and innovation. We then identify drivers and amounts of transaction costs in both governance forms. In Germany's competitive model, public transport authorities (PTAs) must guarantee effective competition using different instruments, whereas transaction costs are lowered by clear definition and allocation of responsibilities. In Switzerland's cooperative model, costly competition surrogates serve to overcome information asymmetries. An informal and trusting culture of cooperation prevents high transaction costs. Factors such as complexity of different kinds or unforeseen behaviour of PTAs increase transaction costs in any model. Summing up, our results illustrate that transaction costs are no legitimate argument against competition if the high amounts of subsidies are taken into account. Introducing competition for the market in Switzerland's regional public rail transport, however, would be challenging and trigger high one-time reform costs since it would relate to a radical ‘cultural change’.

Renewal and Development of Intercity Passenger Rail System: A Case of China

China’s new intercity passenger rail system has been expanding at an impressive rate, with several thousand miles being constructed or put into operation annually; attesting to this enormous expansion is the cumulative ridership of billions of passengers. China’s rapid progress in its intercity passenger rail system has a global impact; sharing the experiences of high-speed rail has become a crucial diplomatic strategy for China, and the progress itself has engaged the interest of many countries in developing their intercity passenger rail systems. The case of China can shed light on the global development of intercity passenger rail systems from the perspective of systematic transformations of transit systems. This paper ( a) demonstrates the reasons behind China’s choice of constructing a comprehensive rail system and their impact on China’s development of its intercity passenger rail system and ( b) analyzes the level of development and the framework of the system. The paper then describes China’s national high-speed rail (HSR) system, regional intercity passenger rail system, and commuter rail system in detail and demonstrates the experiences and problems encountered in the course of development of the intercity passenger rail system by addressing ( a) the competition between HSR and air transportation, ( b) the regional economic impacts, ( c) the speed limits of regional intercity passenger rail systems, ( d) the impacts of the regional intercity passenger rail system on passenger flow along the lines, and ( e) the obstacles that the commuter rail systems face; and reflects upon these phenomena on the basis of statistical facts.

Railway in the Upper Silesia Coal Basin conurbation. It is time for the underground.

Opportunities for a railway network to be used in present and prospective passenger transports in Upper Silesian and Coal Basin conurbation. PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. intensions in the scope of modernization and reconstruction of railway network in the conurbation, for the purpose of functional regional and long-distance passenger transport systems’ evolution. Technical and organizational conditions to separate rail passenger services from cargo transportation in the conurbation, furthermore, separating regional and long-distance rail traffic in the passenger transport. Reasons to build new railway lines connecting the conurbation center and Katowice-Pyrzowice International Airport. Courses of action for the undergrounds’ process of planning at each stage in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin conurbation center, as well as regional railway lines for a local transport and a high – speed railway for a long- distance passengers’ domestic and international transport.

The ViWaS Project: Future-proof Solutions for Wagonload Transport

Rail transports of single wagons or wagon groups are an indispensable part of the transport chain, such as for the forestry and the chemical industry. However, high production costs and low quality standards have led to a continuous decline in market shares in recent years. In order to counteract this tendency, ten European companies and research institutions, covering the areas of rail transport and logistics, have combined their forces in the scope of the research and development project ViWaS (Viable Wagonload Production Schemes). The goal: Innovative and simultaneously practical solutions for a sustainable wagonload transport. The applicability of these solutions and their effects have been proven with the aid of business cases in terms of field tests and pilot operations. The following main innovations have been achieved within the ViWaS project:(1)Improved “last-mile” operating concepts incorporating hybrid locomotives and bi-modal shunting engines (by Bentheimer Eisenbahn, Fret SNCF and SBB Cargo supported by HaCon and NEWOPERA): The new production method for last-mile delivery is based on the idea of separating train movements and sidings shunting processes by deploying bimodal road-rail tractors. Processes within the sidings have been simplified; as a result costs for equipment and staff could be reduced considerably. Hybrid locomotives are fundamental in securing a seamless access to regional distribution rail networks. Potential cost advantages have been identified comparing different traction combinations of real-life transport chains.(2)Modular wagon technologies for a flexible and efficient use of resources (by Wascosa and SBB Cargo): In detail, three components have been developed up to prototype status: Wascosa's Flex Freight Car is a light container wagon with an accessible floor and thereby applicable for various transport purposes. The Timber Cassette 2.0 is a new superstructure for log wood transport that features foldable stanchions and can be used in combination with a container wagon. In case the Timber Cassette is not loaded, it can be removed and stacked at the terminal or on a container wagon. Empty runs will be minimized generating efficiency improvements. Additionally, SBB Cargo has developed the so-called Container Loading Adapter, another add-on to a container wagon. It facilitates container loading and unloading in sidings. SBB Cargo will deploy this new component within the “Swiss Split” production system, combining intermodal with wagonload transport.(3)Smart wagon telematics allowing improved tracking at reduced costs (by Eureka): A separate abstract “Smart Telematics Enabling Efficient Rail Transport” (Contribution ID 875) has been submitted for TRA 2016).4.A new simulation tool for planning and optimizing single wagonload networks (by ETH Zürich): WagonSIM is an agent-based simulation tool for rail freight networks to facilitate the optimization of SWL production schemes. It is based on the OpenSource software MatSIM. The tool models the routing of freight wagons according to the routes within the real SWL network. Therefore, the modelling of two network levels is required, the production network and the physical infrastructure.The ViWaS project is co-financed by the European Commission in the scope of the Seventh Framework Programme.

So Close, So Different – Regional Rail Transport in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia

The objective of this paper is to present three different models of regional railway passenger transport that emerged in the process of post-communist transition after 1989 in neighbouring countries: Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. After an introduction, the second section of the paper shows the historical, spatial and socio-economic context of the analysis. The three resulting models are presented in the following section. This part of the paper is also devoted to the discussion of the developments, experiences and results obtained in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The final section provides conclusions.

Potential changes in transportation patterns of New York Islanders fans due to stadium relocation

In 2015 the New York Islanders, a professional men’s ice hockey team in the National Hockey League, will relocate to an arena with more transportation options for fans. The team currently plays at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island, NY, with limited public transportation access. They will move 23 miles west to the Barclays Center, an arena in the heart of Brooklyn, NY, with many public transportation options. This study examined fan characteristics which may influence their likelihood of attending Islanders games at the Barclays Center, including familiarity with public transportation, frequency of game attendance, and demographic factors. An online survey of Islanders fans captured fans’ transportation behaviors when traveling to Islanders games at Nassau Coliseum and their projected frequency of attendance after the move, among other variables. Binary and ordered logistic regression models tested the significance of fan characteristics on the likelihood they attended a pre-season Islanders game held at the Barclays Center in September, 2013, and on how frequently respondents reported they will attend future games in Brooklyn. For both models, fans who use regional rail every workday, compared to those who do not, were significantly more likely to have attended the pre-season game and to report they will attend future games. Transit-use variables performed stronger in models than variables representing fans’ work locations. The results exemplify the importance of familiarity with public transportation options when making mode choice decisions, bolstering the importance of transportation demand management strategies when opening new or relocating existing large event venues.

The Effects of Liberalisation of the Passenger Railway Market on the Situation of Regional Rail Connections in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria

Abstract Liberalisation of railway market can be an important instrument for increasing the attractiveness of local rail services and consequently for making the railways more competitive with other means of transport, which could result in changing the modal share in the favour of railways. The differences in the railway liberalisation level as well as in the policies towards rail transport between Central and Eastern European countries are vast, hence the present situation and the future prospects of regional services are diverse. Whereas there is only one railway line in Slovakia which is not operated by the state railway company ZSSK, a few private local connections which complement a very dense network of ČD state railways are in service in the Czech Republic. Poland, by contrast, is a country where liberalisation of railway market is most advanced as several different companies are responsible for transport in the regions. However, the results of this large scale liberalisation are ambiguous as the positive effects (reopening of some lines) are balanced by isolation of the new regional government-owned systems from each other. In Austria, by contrast, the existence of several private and regional government-owned local railways which are an indispensable part of the regional transport networks has contributed to maintain an effective transport system. Although the effects of liberalisation on the local railway networks can often be ambiguous, several cases from the Czech Republic, Austria and Poland show that privatisation and municipalisation may have a positive effect on the railway service as it has enabled to maintain the service on many sections which were at risk of closure. However, the most important condition of the effective transport development seems to be an active cooperation between the railway operators and the local governments as an expression of appropriate transport policy.