Exploring the Factors Affecting Sustainable Human Resource Productivity in Railway Lines

This study aimed to identify the critical factors and items affecting the productivity of sustainable human resources in a Railway Operation Company based on the perceptions of employees and managers in the Human Resources Department. The study was motivated by research which was applied in terms of the objectives of the study and a descriptive survey was employed as the method. The statistical population of the current study consisted of all employees and managers of the Human Resources Department of the company. Random sampling was employed to collect data and the sample size was 191 people according to Morgan’s Table. Methods including the correlation coefficient, multivariate regression, and factor analysis were employed for data analysis. The findings highlight the main factors and items affecting labor productivity in the Urban and Suburban Railway Operation Company as perceived by the Human Resources Department, which were mainly related to human resources management and could be attributed to motivation and requirements for their effective contribution to the improvement of public welfare. Organizational Attitude and Culture, Leadership Style, and Bonus and Ergonomics were extracted as factors affecting productivity or as independent variables. This study is the first study that has aimed to discuss the perceptions of the Human Resources Department active in a company. As such, the study highlights the standpoint of the main decision makers in the Urban and Suburban Railway Operation Company with regard to labour productivity in the urban and suburban sector.

Optimization of Stop Plan for Skip-Stop Operation on Suburban Railway Line

A combination of express and local trains (E/L mode) is generally used to operate a suburban rail service, it can meet the rapid and direct service needs of long-distance travelers as well the needs of short-distance travelers. Generally, a stop plan is the core of the E/L mode. A stop plan optimization model in E/L mode, which aims to minimize the total passenger travel time and the number of operating trains during the peak period with the safe headway and departure frequency constraints, is proposed in this study. Meanwhile, an algorithm based on a genetic algorithm is designed to solve the proposed model. A case study of the Jiangjin Line, a suburban railway in Chongqing, China, is carried out. The results show the efficiency and feasibility of the proposed method. The calculation results also show that the total passenger travel time under E/L mode with the overtaking condition is significantly reduced compared with the all-stops (AS) mode and E/L mode without overtaking condition. The superiority of the E/L mode can be enhanced by reducing the dwell time at stations and adopting the overtaking condition.

Mainstreaming Photo- and Video-Based Documentation as Method for Establishing a Level of Service Framework for the Mumbai Suburban Railway System

The city of Mumbai has grown at an unprecedented rate, increasing the burden of mobility on its core public transport system, the Mumbai suburban railway network. The system is likely failing from “over-optimization,” with stations not designed to cater to the needs of a rapidly growing city, which has led to a steady surge in fatalities over the years, primarily in the metropolitan region beyond the city limits. Besides fatalities, research indicates that crowding has led to extreme fear and insecurity, especially in women and young commuters, with inappropriate behavior by fellow passengers causing them extreme discomfort. There is a need to decongest the Mumbai suburban rail network across the system and to gain a better measure of the extent of crowding in and around transit facilities. Concepts such as level of service (LOS) from the vantage point of crowding science can be used to address this need. However, there are two critical challenges. First, concepts developed in the Global North are inadequate to deal with the kind of commuter densities and complexities typical of cities like Mumbai. Secondly, conventional data gathering methods have proved to be time consuming, costly, and too inflexible to capture dynamic commuter behavior critical to the science of crowd management. This paper aims to address these two challenges by articulating a set of “inquiries” that can inform a localized framework and share learnings from the application of basic video and image processing. Thus, it proposes dynamic data capture methods that inform and enable a scientific planning process.

Motivation for Achievement in Choosing a Strategy of Behavior in Organizational Conflict Among Employees of the Suburban Railway

Currently, the interrelation of various motivational phenomena, interests, attitudes and behavior of a person in the professional activity is being considered. Analysis of modern psychological literature shows that employees of organizations can be highly-motivated to achieve in their professional activities, however, in each individual, the motivation for achievement can manifest itself in a certain motivational trend. The article discusses the issues of the main parameters of the influence of the motivation for achievement on the determination of strategies for the behavior of suburban railway employees, which are revealed, both in destructive interpersonal communication and at a high level of constructive interaction. The available knowledge about the causes of conflicts and the needs of using the dominant strategy of behavior in interpersonal relationships and professional activity is generalized.