A socio-economic study of platform and carriage crowding in the Australia metropolitan railway industry

This final report supports the CRC project ‘A socioeconomic study of carriage and platform crowding in the Australian railway industry’ (R2.104). The aim of this document is to synthesise findings from the qualitative and quantitative research around passenger perceptions and tolerance of crowding on Australian metropolitan railways. Our findings intersect with broad customer service issues and passenger experiences, such as seating, carriage design and layout (including handholds, and longitudinal or transverse seating arrangements), fares, passenger behaviour, trade-offs and safety. This report presents and explains a model of passenger experiences of crowdedness, consisting of eight multiple and interrelated factors that influence passenger perception, experience and tolerance of crowding. The conclusion to this report includes a list of eight achievable areas for service improvement which could reduce feelings of crowdedness or increase crowding tolerance among metropolitan rail users.