A Quantitative Evaluation Method of Seat Arrangement for Commuter Railway Vehicles from the Viewpoint of Comfort and Accessibility

This paper presents a quantitative evaluation method for seat arrangements in commuter railway cars. The purpose of the study is to evaluate seat arrangements based on passenger comfort and accessibility, which are important during train operation. To determine the unknown parameters in the function, experimental examination was done. A full-scale mockup with variable seat arrangements was manufactured. It was modeled on a 20 m-long car with four or six doors per side, because a choice of the door arrangement is one of the main parameters. Using this mockup, comfort and accessibility were measured for ten types of seat arrangements. The results of the proposed evaluation functions using computer simulations agreed with measured experimental results. Applying the evaluation method to several seat arrangements, it is found that the most suitable seat arrangement depends on the average boarding time of passengers. From the evaluated results, suitable seat arrangements for commuter trains are discussed.