Heterogeneity in perceptions of service quality among groups of railway passengers

The aim of this work is analysing the different perceptions among groups of users on transitservice quality. We propose a methodology based on a classification and regression treeapproach (CART) allowing the characteristics mostly influencing overall service quality to beidentified. The methodology is applied by using data regarding a rail service of the NorthernItaly, particularly suburban lines connecting different towns of the hinterland of the city ofMilan. Passengers expressed their opinions about service characteristics such as safety,cleanliness, comfort, information, personnel. We found that perceptions about service quality aredifferentiated among the various groups of users.