What determines how safe passengers feel on the railways? What concerns do passengers have in relation to personal safety? How can personal safety and perceptions of personal safety on the railways be improved?

Background

The improve transport for the user strategic priority is critical in ensuring the department delivers and maintains a transport system that meets the needs of the public and addresses what they care about most. It puts the needs and expectations of current and potential users (both passengers and freight customers) at the heart of the operation of the transport system and considers about end-to-end journeys, not just individual transport modes. It is focused on ensuring that our infrastructure and the services which use it meet the varied needs of businesses and the public, are attractive, affordable, sustainable, and resilient is a crucial goal for the department.

Next steps

Get in touch with bridgetoresearch@dft.gov.uk

Source

This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:

DFT-Areas of research interest 2023 GOV UK

Related UKRI funded projects


  • Increasing rail transport throughput while avoiding incentives to compromise social distancing: agent-based quantification leading to guidelines

    Public transport is crucial to economic activity, functioning cities and access to work, but presents many pinch-points (doors, confined areas of queuing, ticket gates) where social distancing is easily compromised. Thes...

    Funded by: COVID

    Lead research organisation: University of Sheffield

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project focuses on improving personal safety and perceptions of personal safety on railways through the optimization of passenger flow and guidelines on effective timetabling and COVID safe station operation.

  • TRAFFIC – TRAin Footfall From Intelligent Counters

    Rail passenger numbers in the UK doubled between 1996 and 2016 (currently 1.7billion p.a.) whilst the supply of train kilometres rose by ~50%, with implications for overcrowding on services and associated impacts on trai...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Lead research organisation: BLOCK DOX LIMITED

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project addresses issues related to overcrowding on trains, passenger comfort, safety, and passenger satisfaction, but does not specifically focus on improving personal safety and perceptions of personal safety on railways.

  • Improving Passenegr safety through the provision of Crowding information on all British RailwayTrains

    RASIC Ltd has been researching how to predict rail demand to improve operational responses to train delays and long-term timetable planning to better meet passenger needs. Even in today's technological world that rail op...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Lead research organisation: RASIC LIMITED

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project aims to improve decision-making in real-time and in the future by gathering data and predicting demand and the likelihood of crowding at stations and on-trains, which can contribute to improving personal safety on railways.

  • Improving Safety for Older Public Transport Users

    Older people generally become more dependent upon public transport in later life as their ownership and use of passenger cars becomes more difficult. Therefore, it is necessary that they perceive the public transport sys...

    Funded by: MRC

    Lead research organisation: Loughborough University

  • Proteus - Flexible Rail Interior System

    This project responds to the rapidly changing landscape in rail, post COVID-19\. It aims to bring innovation to rail carriage interiors that will offer benefits and reassurances to passengers and bring commercial opportu...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Lead research organisation: PRIESTMAN GOODE LIMITED

  • COUNTER: Computing train Occupants Using Novel sensing Techniques to Enhance Rail services.

    **CONTEXT**: Understanding realtime passenger rail service use is crucial, because overcrowded rail services (annually published as Passengers in excess of capacity, with maximum allowable PiXC of 4.5%) lead to more dela...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Lead research organisation: BLOCK DOX LIMITED

  • Situational Awareness for Rail

    Ineffective safety systems in the rail industry have resulted in avoidable fatalities and near misses with high-speed trains. Fatal incidents, including a rail worker killed earlier this year, and two who lost their live...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Lead research organisation: TENDED LTD

  • Measuring Impact of Social Distancing on Transportation (MISDT)

    Social distancing policies have been imposed in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Citizens are being advised to keep a two-metre distance on streets, at stations, within shops, and on public transportation. These recommen...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Lead research organisation: HUMANISING AUTONOMY LTD

  • DreamSuite: Redefining Train Travel with Unprecedented Versatility

    Our project, DreamSuite, aims to transform the railway industry with an innovative new seat concept, initially for UK Sleeper Services, inspired by the comfort and flexibility found in aviation. This ground-breaking seat...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Lead research organisation: FUTURE TRAVEL STUDIO LTD