New metro cars will be purchased for the underground system in Stockholm to replace the present old cars. The aim is to have new attractive and comfortable metro cars that can attract both the present passengers as well as new passengers. This paper presents the result of a research and development project with the aim to establish design requirements for the purchase of new metro cars that assure good quality throughout the journey for all passengers. The passengers using the present cars at a large metro station were analysed. A wide range of passengers regarding gender, age and physical abilities was found and many carried luggage or goods. Disabled persons constituted a small proportion of the travellers. proportion of the travellers. The functional abilities of the disabled were found to be within the range of abilities of the passenger group as a whole. This implies that new metro cars must comply with the variation, and not an average value of the needs and requirements of the passengers. Thus the adaptation to disabled travellers can be made within a general improvement of quality for all passengers. An experimental study was carried out with a full scale mock-up of a metro car having different seating arrangements and adjustable doorways. A group of 20 disabled persons with mobility and visual impairments tried seats, handles and dimensional changes of the passenger compartment. A large group of 20 persons simulated ordinary travel situations like riding and entering and leaving the car. (A)
Abstract