Factors Influencing the Propensity to Make Long Distance Trips by Rail

This paper discusses sane of the major results of the inter-urban rail trip generation models developed during the studentship of J M Rickard under the supervision of Drs C A Nash and A S Fowkes. The trip rates of distinct groups in the population are exmined and possible explanations for the differences discussed. It is found that rail business trip rates are explained by SEG, age and location - other variables such as sex and car ownership do not have an independent effect. Location in a major urban area increases use of rail for business travel by 50-100%, largely at the expense of car. For non-business travel, SEG, age, household type and whether the district has a main-line rail station are the principal determinants of rail trip rates. The highest trip rates are found for students, members of the armed forces and professional employees, particularly those aged 18-24 and living in one person or many adult households. Amongst pensioners, it is those living in 2-pensioner households who travel most: pensioners living alone make few journeys by any mode. Accessibility to a main line rail station appears to raise the use of rail by high-usage SEGs at the expense of car, but for other groups, effect is ambiguous.