Passenger Rail Service Comfortability in Kuala Lumpur Urban Transit System
Rail transit transportation system is among the public transportation network in 
Kuala Lumpur City. Some important elements in establishing this system are ticket price, 
operation cost, maintenance implications, service quality and passenger’s comfortability. The 
level of passenger’s comfortability in the coach is important to be considered by the relevant 
authorities and system operators in order to provide comfort and safety to passengers. The 
objective this research is to study some parameters that impact the comfortability of passengers 
and to obtain feedbacks from passengers for different rail transit system. Site observations were 
conducted to obtain data such as noise, vibration, speed and coach layouts which will be 
verified by using the passenger feedback outcomes. The research will be focused in and around 
the Kuala Lumpur City for the duration of 10 months. Four rail transit systems were being 
considered, i.e. Train Type A (LRA), Train Type B (LRB), Train Type C (MRL) and Train 
Type D (CTR). Data parameters obtained from field observations were conducted in the rail 
coaches during actual operation using apparatus among others the sound level meter (SLM), 
vibration analyzer (VA) and the global positioning system (GPS). Questionnaires were 
prepared as passenger feedback instrument, focusing on the level of comfortability in rail 
coaches. The outcomes of these analyses showed that CTR was the best and most comfortable 
coach, followed by LRA, LRB and MRL. Using the passenger feedbacks (MBP) it was also 
found that the ranking values for the railway transit system using Rail Coach Comfortability 
(RCC) is RCC (MBP) were the same as the outcomes using the RCC (parameters). In 
conclusion, it was found that this research has successfully determined the level of 
comfortability as determined in its aim and objectives. From this research, it is hoped that the 
relevant authorities will continue to find ways to enhance the comfortability and safety of its 
train coaches especially its passengers and the community at large.
Level of comfort and safety in railway transit
Canada's railway industry has invested more than $20 billion since 1999 to improve the safety of users as a top priority. Although the accident rates have decreased, the users' safety and comfort could still be impacted by vehicle's vibration, air quality, and noise levels. In this regard, comfort and safety are mutually related aspects; worsening of air quality could compromise users' safety from a respiratory health perspective. Further, noise, level of lighting, thermal condition and movement could contribute to hearing problems, visual impairments, bacteria growth, and nausea, respectively. Management of urban transit systems should ensure a convenient transit service with adequate levels of ride and quality (time and cost) as well as users' comfort and safety. This article proposes an approach for measurement of riders' comfort (as it relates to safety) in terms of humidity, temperature, vibration, concentration of CO2, noise, and lighting level based on a set of maximum thresholds identified with respect to public health guidelines. This enables the use of a weighting method to establish an overall network comfort level. Such an index can be used to direct the allocation of investments for improvement of comfort as well as ridership. A case study of several lines in Sydney trains network is presented to illustrate the applicability and usefulness of the proposed approach. Data were collected and analyzed using low-cost technologies such as smart phones and mobile sensors. The comfort factors are measured and reported per train line and then combined to generate an overall comfort index.
Research on the role of urban rail transit in promoting economic development
Abstract Urban rail transit becomes the important mean for developing urban economy, improving industrial structure and raising citizens’ living standard for its great social and economic effects. With the growth of economy, its role of boosting domestic demand and driving economic growth has been more obvious. And it will become the major impetus for fueling green GDP growth and promoting urban sustainable development. This paper, from the urban sustainable development point of view, analyzes the social property and economic property of urban rail transit, and points out the direct effect and indirect effect on economic development by the urban rail transit construction. And advices about urban rail transit construction have been put forward in this paper.