Needs of train travelers and enhancing their trip experience. The case of SBB in Switzerland and potential service bundles.

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Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Insinööritieteiden korkeakoulu | Master's thesis

Authors

Date

2022-10-10

Department

Major/Subject

Sustainable Urban Mobility Transitions

Mcode

ENG3085

Degree programme

Master’s programme in Urban Mobility

Language

en

Pages

67 + 12

Series

Abstract

This thesis on train travelers’ needs and their trip experience was done in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). It starts with a general review of the existing literature and then focuses on service needs of train travelers in Switzerland and how these services can enhance their trip experience. An online survey was carried out with a sample from a pool of SBB customers who have previously signed up for being a “customer voice”, i.e. taking part in different surveys, interviews etc. by SBB. Survey participants were categorized by trip purpose group (either work, education and business travel or leisure travel) and by travel class (either first or second class). They were presented with a list of 15 services in connection to train journeys and asked to rate these services in terms of the potential to enhance their trips. Following this, participants could then choose a maximum of four services to be combined in a package (bundle). Overall, the most popular services for these bundles were access to restrooms at stations, food and drinks in the train, seat reservations in the train as well as food and drinks at the station. Some of the major differences observed between trip purpose groups are the higher popularity of seat reservations for leisure travelers and the more frequent choice of food and drinks in the train and last mile bike or scooter sharing by work, education and business travelers. Over two thirds of study participants indicated a general interest in purchasing service bundles. The survey results as well as the background literature led to the conclusion that the highest potential for enhancing a train journey with such services could be for first class leisure travelers. The results need to be treated with caution, since some characteristics of the sample were not representative of the whole SBB customer population and the differences between trip purpose groups as well as between travel classes were not tested for statistical significance.

Description

Supervisor

Mladenovic, Milos

Thesis advisor

Massera, Laura

Keywords

train, traveler needs, trip experience, service bundling

Other note

Citation

Permanent link to this item

https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202210165924

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[dipl] Insinööritieteiden korkeakoulu / ENG