Assessing policy efficiency to reduce peak demand in trains

Abstract

Since the trains are getting more crowded during the morning peak hour in The Netherlands, multiple problems arise for both railway travelers and railway operators. Therefore, new solutions are needed to be found, to reduce the peak hour demand in trains during the morning peak in The Netherlands. A possible solution appeared to be changing the departure time of students. The aim of this research is to propose alternative policies that lead to a lower peak demand and are at the same time attractive for students. First, the baseline alternative is set using literature research and expert knowledge. Then the alternative policies are defined by using focus groups. After that, the effects of the proposed alternatives are compared to the baseline and these effects are then monetized. Lastly, a sensitivity analysis is performed by using tornado charts. It can be concluded from this research, that both blended learning and implementation of the student grant have potential to be economically feasible and to have societal benefits. However, these alternatives are not proven to be the solution for all congested railway trajectories in The Netherlands. Therefore, if these policies are considered for other trajectories to be implemented, research needs to be done for the specific trajectories.