User-centred planning for rail vehicles to increase efficiency

Abstract

In order to increase efficiency in terms of revenue on the railways, the path often taken is to maximise the number of seats. This is expected to “sell” as many seats as possible and thus increase profits. However, 20 years of research prove that seatmaximised wagons are actually inefficient. The reason is that the needs of passengers and, above all, human behaviour in vehicles when getting on and off, moving around, finding a seat, stowing luggage and staying in the train cabin are not sufficiently taken into account. Well-designed vehicles, which focus on people from the outset, not only increase customer satisfaction through better quality, but also significantly improve efficiency.