Cultural Differences in Conceptual Models of Ride Comfort for High-Speed Trains

This study focuses on an analysis of the difference in cultural experiences for similar services through analzing the difference in conceptual models of ride comfort for passengers of KTX (Korea Train eXpress) and TGV (Train a Grand Vitesse). These trains operate with identical platforms; KTX was introduced by K-TGV (Korea-TGV) based on TGV (French high-speed train). For the conceptual models of ride comfort, this study surveyed 200 KTX passengers on the Seoul-Busan line (duration: 2 hours 30 minutes) and surveyed 150 France TGV passengers on the Paris-Marseilles line (duration: 2 hours 40 minutes). The conceptual models of ride comfort were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). In the results of the study, though there were differences in cultural environment (e.g., physical environment, body size, etc.) and cultural mentality (e.g., preference, unconscious rule, etc.), the models of ride comfort for both countries shared similar critical factors. However, there were significant differences in loading values of ride comfort for these critical factors. In particular, there were differences of 1.5 to 2 times between the two models regarding the subfactors seat factor and human fatigue factor. In conclusion, this study elicits that experience factor is the most influential on ride comfort, and cultural factors are applied as essential variables in ride comfort improvement. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.