THE TRAIN IN THE CHAIN

This paper is focused on access and egress transport and the function of the station in the train transport chain, in the Netherlands. The separate modes of access and egress transport are as follows: walking, cycling, bus/tram/underground, and the car. Each transport mode is examined in relation to the most important quality characteristics of speed, convenience, comfort, and price. When the most important quality aspects of access and egress transport, travel time and convenience, are lumped together, two different groups can be distinguished: passengers and passive passengers. The active train passengers (circa 80% of total) take care of their own access and/or egress transport, independently of other bodies. The passive train passenger (about 20% of total) travels to or from the station by local or regional transport providers. There is a strong correlation between the quality characteristics of price and comfort. Passengers who are willing to pay more for access and egress transport are more likely to choose luxurious transport modes like the car, taxi or train taxi. Product-market combinations can be made in which, on the one hand, price and comfort are coupled to one another and, on the other hand, speed and convenience are linked. This produces four different access and egress transport markets: and passive train passengers who wish to have a cheap or an expensive mode of access and/or egress transport. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD E203386.