Urban rail transit resilience: a systematic review of influencing factors and enhancement strategies

Abstract

Urban rail transit (URT) systems underpin urban mobility and socio-economic activities, yet increasing system complexity and interdependence have enlarged their exposure to diverse disturbances, positioning resilience as a core analytical paradigm. However, prior studies remain fragmented, with limited efforts to systematically identify the influencing factors of URT resilience and the corresponding enhancement strategies. Meanwhile, prior reviews mainly focused on the assessment of URT resilience, and it lacks a systematic review from the perspective of relevant influencing factors and enhancement strategies. Following the PRISMA guidelines, this review identifies and selects 62 studies through a two-stage screening process and backward snowballing. Using thematic analysis, we develop a structured framework of influencing factors associated with URT resilience and a comprehensive taxonomy of resilience enhancement strategies, providing a comprehensive understanding of URT resilience and a foundation for future research and policy development. The findings indicate that URT resilience process comprises five stages, namely prevention, resistance, response, recovery, and adaptation, and is shaped by four interrelated dimensions, including human and behavioural factors, infrastructure and technological support, environmental and external influences, and governance and management capacity. These dimensions interact across different resilience stages and exhibit significant cross-stage coupling features. Furthermore, resilience enhancement strategies are distinguished according to their primary modes of intervention into three interrelated layers: infrastructural, operational, and external, which target intrinsic system properties, operational and decision-making processes, and the external environment, respectively. Resilience enhancement is inherently multi-layered, relying on context-sensitive combinations and coordinated deployment of strategies across multiple layers. Finally, this review underscores that future research should address underexamined influencing factors, strengthen the development and application of real-world, multi-source data and emerging technologies, and place greater emphasis on practical applicability and implementation capacity, thereby supporting more adaptive and data-driven URT resilience management.