Estudio técnico de oferta y demanda para el transporte ferroviario en el tramo Riobamba-Cuenca

Abstract

The main problem that passenger railway transportation in the Riobamba-Cuenca section faces is that the railway line has not been in operation. In some cases, certain sections were not operational, others required maintenance, or they were not renewed. Additionally, the railroad wooden ties were found to be in poor condition. Therefore, this research aimed to conduct a technical study of the supply and demand for railway transportation in the Riobamba-Cuenca section. The methodology used for this study included bibliographic research to establish the theoretical framework and to gather information on the current situation to understand the reality of the passenger railway system. An exploratory, descriptive, and field research approach was also employed, using survey techniques directed at the economically active population within the areas between the two cantons. Through this method, the demand was determined to be 57,943 seats for the year 2023. Additionally, interviews were conducted to gather data on the installed capacity by identifying daily trips, workdays per week, the maximum number of passengers, and the travel directions. This information was used to identify an annual supply of 112,632 seats for the year 2023. Based on this context, it is concluded that there is no market viability due to the lack of unsatisfied demand, as the supply exceeds the demand.