Bridging the Gap: Understanding the Needs of Passengers with Reduced Mobility in Using Railway Transport

抄録

This paper explores the challenges, experiences, needs, and perceptions of Passengers with Reduced Mobility (PRM) that use rail transport. The term PRM acknowledges that mobility challenges are not only limited to persons with disabilities but also include those with travel limitations and other contextual factors. PRMs provided their challenges during various stages of their journey, highlighting experiences of discrimination from both passengers and rail staff, difficulty with transferring to other modes, malfunctioning elevators, escalators, and air-conditioner, among others. It was found that while passengers of all types more-or-less have the same average satisfaction scores, PRMs are more dissatisfied in terms of accessibility and seamlessness of transfers. Moreover, the experience of PRMs worsen when Level of Service is poor. The results of the study can be used as input to further improvement of programs and strategies to improve railway accessibility.