Uncovering Socioeconomic Factors Influencing Railway User Perception

Policy makers are increasingly aware of the need to promote and attract users towards sustainable mobility. The perception that users make of available alternatives, such as the railway system, is gaining relevance. The present work focuses on user perception regarding the need to promote investment to improve social performance of railway travel. This work is based on an open European level survey on railway user satisfaction, applied to Portugal, providing a unique perspective on user's perceptions, according to their socioeconomic background. Overall, we found strong influence of socioeconomic context towards universal access to railway services. Users from peri-urban areas tend to prevail, and younger age ranges use railway more frequently than older age ranges. The study also presents valuable insights into the need to consider vulnerable population segments in policies for railway use in Portugal. Further research is required on the perception of environmental and energy related issues for railway travel.