Understanding Passenger Perceptions and Behaviors during Unplanned Rail Disruptions

Due to aging infrastructure, increasing demand and limited capacity, unplanned failures of urban rail systems have become a major concern for cities worldwide. A key feature of unplanned rail disruption (URD) is the often chaotic and crowded conditions which arise. Passengers are placed in a situation of uncertainty and must often find their own way to react. Because rail staff are busy coordinating responses, little is known of how passengers actually behave during a URD; what alternative modes are used when passengers leave stations?. In addition, apart from often 'colourful' complaints, it is often unclear what passengers think of operator responses; what are passengers priorities for responding to URD's? This research aims to understand passenger behaviours, perceptions and priority interventions in response to unplanned urban passenger rail disruptions. It reports on a major survey of rider responses undertaken for users of the Metropolitan heavy rail system in Melbourne, Australia.