Do I really like to shift to rail? Influence of rail modernisation on passenger preferences

Abstract

The emphasis on environmentally friendly solutions is steadily increasing in the transport sector. The topic of this article is a discussion of the long-term European initiative shift to rail. This initiative is confronted with historical facts, using the rail connection between Prague and Pilsen in Czechia. Numerous modernisation activities have been carried out on this line and have led to a qualitative change in transport, albeit on a conventional railway line and not high-speed rail (HSR). The paper evaluates whether a significant rail infrastructure upgrade leads to a change in transport and residential behaviour. The evaluation relies on identifying relevant upgrade projects and assessing the costs of upgrading this conventional railway. According to the results showing a significant increase in ridership, passengers consider changes, frequency, and travel time to be the crucial factors of the fundamental change in service quality caused by the modernisation of the line. These changes are confirmed and emphasised by 29 in-depth interviews with new or more frequent rail passengers using the train connection between Prague and Pilsen, identifying individual preferences and motives for changing travel behaviour. The results show that an upgrade of a conventional rail line (comparable in cost to the construction of HSR in Spain) lead to significant savings in travel time of 17 % and motivated operators to increase frequency by almost 50 %, increasing ridership to more than double. Passengers' interviews revealed more topics, such as services, comfort, and the difficult parking situation in Prague possible determinants for relocation and daily commuting.