Intercity Rail Transport Pricing Strategy Based on Efficacy Coefficient Method

By utilizing the efficacy coefficient method, this study proposes a multi-criteria modeling approach for the reasonable pricing decision of intercity rail passenger transport. The proposed model aims at minimizing the average travel time and energy consumption per passenger-trip for an intercity rail passenger transport system. It is empirically confirmed that the variation of the ticket price imposes significant influence upon the transport ratios of different travel modes. It is proved that the average travel time per passenger-trip and the system energy consumption declines with the reduced fare. As for the operation of rail passenger transport system mentioned in the case study, if its fare is adjusted to 55.8 yuan/passenger-trip, the average travel time and energy consumption per passenger-trip decrease by 7.8% and 2.1%, respectively. This study is able to assist the sensible decision-making of ticket price, which can also effectively promote the operation efficiency and sustainability of an intercity rail transport system.