Understanding the train travel environment for digitally engaged passengers: Exploring passenger experience on high-speed rail

Abstract

High-speed rail (HSR) has emerged as an efficient transportation option for its services to respond to the growing population and increased travel needs. They offer a faster and more efficient mode of transportation compared to traditional rail services. As HSR travel expands, understanding how passengers experience these environments, particularly those who rely on continuous digital connectivity, becomes increasingly important for user-centered design research. Digitally engaged passengers are those who actively use their digital devices for work, communication or personal tasks during travel. These behavioral shifts highlight the need to examine how digital engagement intersects with usability, comfort, and productivity in long-distance travel settings. Multitasking during travel is no longer limited to passive activities like thinking, talking, or relaxing but more active engagement with digital devices: reading documents, completing work tasks, attending virtual meetings, and managing communications on the go. This study aims to investigate the high-speed train interiors for digitally engaged passengers, specifically in Turkey, focusing on how the physical and service-related aspects of long-distance TCDD's (State Railways of the Republic of Turkiye) HSR journeys affect their user experience, digital engagement, multitasking behaviors and comfort during travel. An increasing number of passengers depend on uninterrupted device access and ergonomic support during transit, effectively transforming trains into mobile environments for work, study, and digital engagement. However, existing high-speed train interiors often overlook the behavioral shifts of digitally engaged passengers, offering interiors that are poorly suited for digital activities and multitasking-intensive travel routines. To uncover these gaps, the research adopted a multi-method approach combining an online survey, digital travel diaries, and semi-structured interviews. The survey was completed by 181 passengers who had travelled on TCDD and included no age restriction to explore potential generational differences; however, participants reporting higher digital engagement were predominantly younger travellers. Survey items assessed travel habits, digital device use, perceived productivity, multitasking practices, and evaluations of interior and service conditions. To capture real time, phase-dependent dynamics, a subset of digitally engaged participants completed structured digital diaries during real journeys and then participated in follow-up interviews to clarify underlying mechanisms and contextual explanations. Findings across the three datasets were integrated and synthesised into a Digital Passenger's Journey Map and a pain-point diagram. Findings indicate that digital engagement is shaped by journey conditions and tends to decline when connectivity is limited; however, "better Wi-Fi" alone does not resolve breakdowns in intended activities. Participants reported that the viability of focused work or leisure depends on an ecosystem of factors, including predictable connectivity, noise and social disturbance, thermal comfort, workspace viability (e.g., table sufficiency and device placement), information reliability, and operational disruptions. Diary entries further suggested that engagement and comfort shift across phases rather than remaining stable, and interviews highlighted coping behaviours such as smart-switching between activities and using short micro-breaks to maintain focus. Together, these insights connect environmental and service conditions to digitally engaged travel behaviour and provide early-stage design directions for interior and service improvements. This thesis develops a conceptual understanding of digitally engaged rail travel and proposes a user-experience framework (a journey map and pain-point diagram) to inform high-speed train interior and service design. It outlines early-stage design directions related to connectivity predictability, seat and workspace ergonomics, and environmental comfort, supporting the rethinking of HSR environments for digitally engaged travel.