EVALUATION OF RAIL SERVICES (original) (raw)

Efficiency, effectiveness, and impacts assessment in the rail transport sector: a state-of-the-art critical analysis of current research

International Transactions in Operational Research

This paper aims at being a comprehensive reference for stakeholders, policy makers, and scholars interested in analyzing the problem of efficiency, effectiveness, and impacts of rail transport systems in a sound empirical way, paying specific attention to passenger transport services. The paper combines different analytical frameworks (engineering, economics, impacts), systematic review techniques, and advanced mappings. Framing economic efficiency studies into a transport planning perspective permits to move from efficiency to effectiveness issues. In addition, including impacts offers a critical discussion of the existing empirical studies, relating them to the main methodological approaches used. This analysis can be useful for those interested in developing new techniques for the evaluation of this sector. The critical analysis developed in this paper provides a catalog of inputs, outputs, external factors, possible impacts to account for, data, and approaches, which allows us to identify areas in which new methodological developments, new approaches, are needed to address the relevant societal challenges of the rail transport sector.

THE BRITISH RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEM: HISTORY, CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS INTRODUCTION

Infrastructure as a concept is something that has existed in various forms from the 16 th Century. It encompasses roads, railways, waste management, financial systems and social welfare. The nature of infrastructure management however, has changed over the course of time. From being primarily a government or state venture, to include and sometimes being a totally private or market run system. This paper shall begin by defining infrastructure and go through aspects that make up an infrastructure system; needs assessment, policy and framework for decision-making. It shall then analyze the British Rail infrastructure system in the same respect.

Rail Urban Projects: A Way for Improving Public Transport Patronage

Motorised mobility has increased in a significant way in last years in European cities, and this has brought too much congestion in urban areas, which has deteriorated city centres' liveable conditions. For that reason, there is a need of effective and flexible transport systems in order to improve this situation in favour of public transport.

Potential Impacts on Accessibility and Consumer Surplus of Improvements of the European Railway System

Transportation Research Procedia, 2014

It is widely accepted that "transport infrastructure endowment influences competiveness of a Region; the provision of investment in transport infrastructure entails positive effects on productivity and growth, even if on the other side, heavy infrastructures (as railway lines) could affect negatively on the environment" (5th Cohesion Report, 2010). This article aims to explore the potential impact of improvements of the passenger rail network in order to evaluate how these could potentially increase accessibility and consumer surplus in EU regions; it summarizes the results of the model simulations carried out with a combination of the TRANSTOOLS rail network and the assignment module of Traffic Analyst. Three different scenarios have been tested by changing speeds on the whole network. The post-processing analysis has been carried out with utilities developed in Matlab, while the results for each zone (at NUTS3 level) have also been reported in easyto-read ArcGIS maps. The outcomes provide insight into how the demand for passenger rail transport would react and where the highest benefits and costs, in terms of accessibility and consumer surplus gains, can be expected. This information, in turn, can be useful for the prioritization of investment needs and the identification of parts of the rail passenger market where new demand may be generated.

Social Benefits As Part In The Economic Evaluation Of High Speed Rail

Volatile gas prices and ever increasing congestion on the highways and at airports are demanding advancements in the transportation industry. In order to lessen some of the current transportation issues, current administration has taken preliminary steps to develop a high-speed rail network in the United States. This study aims at analyzing the economic viability of two possible high-speed rail lines while emphasizing the social benefits afforded by them. The social benefits included were reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, increase in worker productivity, and decrease in traffic fatalities. The two lines were proved to be much more economically viable with the inclusion of the social benefits than they were from a purely financial standpoint. By including the social benefits into the equation, high-speed rail could be more economically viable in some places than was previously thought by using financial costs alone.

Evaluating the Success Factors of Integrating the Railway Into the Public Urban–Suburban Transport

Transport

The success of integrating the railway into the public urban and suburban transport depends upon a range of internal and external factors, with challenges arising in their number and complex interdependence. Furthermore, the significance and impact of some factors are uneven in cities. There is a necessity for the right mix of different factors that drive significant use of railway into the Public Transport System (PTS). The research problem is finding and defining factors needed to assess the success of railway implementation into public urban and suburban transport. An efficiency analysis of the factors that impact the level of the planned transport system use was conducted in a hierarchical or network system. The 1st step of research is to the determination of relevant factors. In this research 27 factors were determined. Based on the determining factors and their connection it is possible to design an Analytic Network Process (ANP) to evaluate the importance of factors. Factors ...

Pivotal Facets in the Evaluation of Public Transport Systems: A Review

Bloomsbury, 2023

Modern society relies on public transit, which is economical and handy for millions of people. However, public transport systems' ability to meet user needs and promote sustainable growth depends on several aspects that must be assessed constantly. These aspects reflect public transit changes and needs across time. The aim is to provide a complete grasp of public transport system evaluation criteria and suggest opportunities for improvement. Policymakers and stakeholders can evaluate these key factors to create more efficient, dependable, and sustainable public transit networks. However, the current environment emphasises user and transport system safety, therefore elements have been listed according to their importance in current trends to help construct a public transport performance assessment model.

Evaluating rail transit benefits: A comment

Transport Policy, 2007

Several recent articles criticize urban rail transit investments on grounds that they are ineffective at reducing traffic congestion and financially wasteful. This commentary challenges that view. It summarizes some of the findings of more detailed analyses of transit benefits and suggests that there is abundant evidence that high quality, grade-separated transit does reduce urban traffic congestion, and that urban transit improvements can be cost effective investments when all economic impacts are considered. r