International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 - 6510(Online),

Volume 5, Issue 8, August (2014), pp. 10-15 IAEME

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A STUDY ON PASSENGERS SATISFACTION TOWARDS RAILWAY
SERVICES IN ERODE JUNCTION


Dr. J. ANURADHA

M.B.A., M.PHIL., PH.D Assistant Professor,
Bharathiar University PG Extension Centre, Erode.




ABSTRACT

Railway transport is the dominated in Indian railway systems. Railways are important part of
central transport. It is suitable for the all (upper, middle, lower) class peoples because fair is
moderate comparing to other transport. Railways also provide services goods, vehicles transferred
from one place to another place because peoples get more useful for as. Which is an evaluation as
well as an emotion-based response to a service. This study conducted by convenient sampling. These
studies only taken 7 services are based on the giving passengers satisfaction towards trains.

Keywords: Railway, Passengers, Satisfaction, Services.

INTRODUCTION

The enlargement of the service sector is an increase in urbanisation, privatisation and more
demand for transitional and final consumer services. Services encompass mostly a set of economic
activities like transport, trade, tourism, communication, banking, insurance, real estate, public
administration and defence. The activities under the purview of the service sector are quite diverse.
The infrastructures including trading, transportation and communication, financial, real estate and
business services, community, social and personal services come within the strategy of the service
industry.
Transport is an important infrastructure in the economy of India. It assumes a greater role in
developing countries since all the sectors of the development are closely dependent upon the
existence of suitable transportation network. The whole structure of industry and commerce rests on
the well laid foundation of transportation. Thus, an effective transport system is a pre-requisite for
economic development of a country. The evident economic growth in India over the last two decades
has increased demand for all transport services, particularly land transport through road and rail. The
development of railways is one of the landmarks in the progress of human civilisation.
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International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 - 6510(Online),
Volume 5, Issue 8, August (2014), pp. 10-15 IAEME


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Indian Railways owned a total route length of 64,000 kilometers, 2,16,717 wagons, 39,263
coaches, 7,739 locomotives and runs about a total of 12,000 passenger trains and 7,000 freight trains
daily. It carries nearly 23 million passengers every day and transports over 2.65 million tonnes of
freight daily. The Head Quarters of the Indian Railways is in New Delhi. Indian Railways is
controlled by the Government of India through the Ministry of Railways. At present, there are 17
zones and 68 divisions in the Indian Railways. Indian Railways has identified model stations for the
provision of upgraded passenger amenities. Some of the stations have been identified for provision
of certain touch and feel items to transform them into modern stations in order to bring about
visible improvements at stations

PASSENGERS SATISFACTION

Public transportation systems provide the most efficient means for moving large number of
people, especially in density populated rural and urban centres in a vast country like India. For this
reason, providing services characterized by high levels of quality is very important in order to
customize the users of the services and attract new users. Key literature review on the passengers
experiences and their satisfaction towards railway services offered in India railway.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Sonne (1999) study on customer satisfaction from consultant services identified various
factors including perceived competence of the consultant and the attitude of consultants toward the
customer during the service production process.

Gleave, S. D., (2000) on railway passenger service quality valuation carried was out between
December 1999 to June 2000, by the organization named Steer Davies Gleave of London. The report
was prepared for Shadow Strategic Rail Authority to study the importance of rail passengers into
improvement of the range and quality of facilities and service on stations and in trains.

Kelley and Storey (2000)mention that changing customer preferences, improved competitive
offerings, and emergence of new technologies often drive firms to introduce new services and
improve existing service offerings as in the case of railways: the on-line ticket booking, enquiry,
passenger status chek-up etc. New service offerings that are timely and responsive to user needs are
also developed to remain competitive.

Public transport service attributes influencing overall passengers satisfaction were
investigated by Ngatia et al. (2010) A survey to public transport users was conducted in the city of
Nairobi. The proposed structural equation model allowed elucidating the interrelationship between
the observed variables and unobserved variables and their impact to the overall commuters
satisfaction. Unobserved attributes such as Service Quality, Safety and Travel Cost were estimated.
Level of satisfaction was found to be significantly influenced by these attributes.

PranayPatil (2012)the Indian Railways (IR) network connects areas across the length and
breadth of the country. The passengers travelling represent the broad diversity of the country
regional diversity, cultural diversity and financial diversity. The author comment in due to the vast
diversity of the country, food cuisine changes as one travels from one region to another. The catering
services providers have to take into account the diversity of the passengers and provide services that
would be appreciable by all. However, there are many faults in the planning and managing of the
system which leads to consumer dissatisfaction
International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 - 6510(Online),
Volume 5, Issue 8, August (2014), pp. 10-15 IAEME


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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

India is one of the largest countries in terms of its geographical size which requires efficient
means for long-distance transportation. The public transport, being primary mode of transport
remains as a powerful yardstick to measure the overall development of a nation. Among the various
modes of transport, railways are one of the biggest modes of passenger transport in the world. The
railway passenger services face long term competitive threats from airlines, luxury buses,
personalised transport and improved public transport. Low cost airlines are giving stiff competition
to upper class segments of the railway passenger service. Though there are competitions from
various modes of transport, the railways has its own unique features and provides more services to
the passengers. In order to compete with other modes of transport, it is inevitable for railways to
accelerate the growth of passengers origination.
This can be done by providing more quality services to them. Further, the opinion of the
passengers towards the services provided by the Indian Railways will be quite different as they vary
in socio-economic characteristics. It is essential for the Railway Authorities to know about the
opinion of the passengers regarding the services offered to them in order to make future policies and
provisions. Based upon the opinion of the passengers, their satisfaction level is decided. The Indian
Railways can perform well only when the passengers are satisfied with the services they obtain.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To measure the level of satisfaction of the passengers about the services offered by the Indian
Railways.
2. To measure the passengers perceptions and satisfaction towards services offered by Railways
3. To offer suggestions to improve the satisfaction of passengers of the rail system.

SAMPLING DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

This study is an empirical research based on survey method. The present study is confined to
Erode junction. By using Convenient Sampling technique, the passengers have been selected from
the Erode junction.

COLLECTION OF DATA

In the present study, both primary and secondary data are used. The present study is largely
based on the primary data. Required primary data have been collected in the course of interview with
the railway passengers through survey method with a pre-tested, well structured and non-disguised
Interview Schedule. The required secondary data for the present study have been collected through
Annual Reports of Ministry of Railways, White Paper on the Indian Railways published by Railway
Ministry, Reports of Comptroller and Audit General of India, various issues of RBI Annual
Bulletins, data from Central Statistical Organisation, Indian Railways Year Book of various years,
records from Public Relations Officer of Salem Division, various journals, periodicals and through
web sites.

PERIOD OF THE STUDY

The required primary data have been collected through a survey made on railway passengers
from January 2013 to June 2013.

International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 - 6510(Online),
Volume 5, Issue 8, August (2014), pp. 10-15 IAEME


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ANALYSIS

CLASSIFICATION OF THE PASSENGERS BY SATISFACTION AND AWARENESS SCORE

The scores of the 500 passengers are calculated. An individual satisfaction score is the mere
summation of the scores secured from all the 35 statements. The score of the passengers range from
35 to 175. The average score is 105. Based on the average score, it is decided to group the sample
passengers into two categories viz., Dissatisfied (whose score is less than 105) and Satisfied (whose
score is in between 105 and 175). Details of the findings by satisfaction level are shown

TABLE 1: CLASSIFICATION OF THE PASSENGERS BY SATISFACTION LEVEL
S.NO Satisfaction
Level
No. of Passengers Total Score Mean Score S.D
1 Dissatisfied 419(83.8) 36015 85.95 12.62
2 Satisfied 81(16.2) 8905 109.94 6.39
3 Total 500(100.0) 44920 89.84 14.77

Table 1 reveals that 83.8% of the sample passengers are dissatisfied with the services offered
by the Indian Railways. The mean score of the sample passengers is 89.84 and standard deviation is
14.77. The awareness score of the passengers range from 25 to 125. The average score is 75. Based
on the average score, it is decided to group the sample passengers into two categories viz., Low level
(whose score is less than 75) and High level (whose score is in between 75 and 125

CLASSIFICATION OF THE PASSENGERS BY AWARENESS SCORE

On the basis of above quantification procedure, the sample passengers have been classified
into low level and high level. Details are shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2: CLASSIFICATION OF THE PASSENGERS BY AWARENESS SCORE

S.No
Awareness
Level

No. of
Passengers

Total Score

Mean Score

S.D

1 Low level 382 (76.4) 23102 60.48 9.73
2 High level 118 (23.6) 9828 83.29 8.04
3 Total 500 (100.0) 32930 65.86 13.47

Table 2 reveals that 76.4 % of the sample passengers are having low level of awareness about
the services offered by the Indian Railways. The mean score of the sample passengers is 65.86 and
standard deviation is 13.47. Hence, it can be concluded that majority of the sample passengers are
having low level of awareness about the services offered by the Indian Railways.

International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 - 6510(Online),
Volume 5, Issue 8, August (2014), pp. 10-15 IAEME


14

Table 3: RANK THE SERVICES FOR TRAVELLING PASSENGERS IN RAINS
Particulars 1 (7) 2 (6) 3 (5) 4 (4) 5 (3) 6 (2) 7 (1) Total Mean Rank
Tangible f
Score
32
(224)
23
(138)
22
(110)
22
(88)
11
(33)
9
(18)
11
(11)
130
(622)
4.78 II
Empathy f
Score
14
(98)
18
(108)
23
(115)
17
(68)
19
(57)
13
(26)
26
(26)
130
(495)
3.80 IV
Assurance
f
Score
17
(119)
11
(66)
28
(140)
19
(76)
25
(75)
15
(30)
15
(15)
130
(521)
4.00 III
Comfort f
Score
24
(168)
37
(222)
26
(130)
11
(44)
8
(24)
11
(22)
13
(13)
130
(623)
4.79 I
Frequency
f
Score
12
(84)
17
(102)
10
(50)
24
(96)
25
(75)
24
(48)
18
(18)
130
(473)
3.63 V
Reliability
f
Score
11
(77)
12
(72)
11
(55)
19
(76)
25
(75)
28
(56)
24
(24)
130
(435)
3.34 VII
Speed f
Score
18
(126)
13
(78)
12
(60)
17
(68)
17
(51)
29
(58)
24
(24)
130
(465)
3.57 VI

As per the above table 5 shows that, majority of the respondents preferred Rank I as comfort,
next most of the respondents preferred Rank II as tangibles, next most of the respondents preferred
Rank III as assurance and followed by Empathy, Frequency, Speed, Reliability occupied Rank
IV, V, VI, VII respectively.
It is concluded that comfort service is fore most passengers travelling while travelled in train.

SUGGESTIONS

In the light of the findings of the study, the following suggestions have been made to increase
the level of awareness of the railway passengers regarding the services offered to them.

It is found that 76.4% of the sample passengers have low level of awareness about the
services offered by the Indian Railways. Hence, it is suggested that the Ministry of Railways
should take all possible steps to propagate the various services provided to the passengers by
keeping adequate index boards and bulletin boards in all possible places like rest room, at the
entrance, ticket counter, passengers lounge and platform. It may enable the passengers to
know about the facilities provided by the Indian Railways.
It is suggested that announcements could be made quite often regarding the services
provided by the Indian Railways. By doing so, the level of awareness of the passengers about
the services can be improved to the fullest extent.
It is suggested that the Ministry of Railways must create awareness among the passengers
regarding various services offered to them in various classes of travel by printing them on
their ticket. It will enable the passengers to choose their class of travel based on the
amenities available to them and their level of expenditure.
International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 - 6510(Online),
Volume 5, Issue 8, August (2014), pp. 10-15 IAEME


15

Further, it is also suggested that awareness has to be created among the passengers regarding
the procedures involved in the mode of ticket reservation either at station counter or through
agent or internet. It will facilitate the passengers to reserve their tickets easily in advance to
their travel.
The public may be created awareness through rallies by voluntary organisations or by issuing
pamphlets and through placards regarding the safety measures to be adopted while travelling
in train as well as in the railway track. This will enable to avoid unnecessary accidents in
future.

CONCLUSION

It is well known that offering better services is essential for the growth of the Indian
Railways. It is also equally important to make the passengers aware of the services. Still, Indian
Railways has to take more possible steps to enhance the level of awareness of the passengers. On the
basis of the findings of the present study, some constructive and viable suggestions have been made.
If the suggestive measurements have been considered earnestly by the Indian Railways and the
Policy Makers, it is hope that the Indian Railways will shine and bring grandeur to our country in the
near future

REFERENCE

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quality financially accountable. J. Marketing 58 (2), pp: 58-70.
2. Gleave, S. D (2000); Rail Passenger Quality of Service Valuation, London.
3. Agarwal, R. (2008); Public Transportation and Customer Satisfaction. Global Business Review
9(2), pp: 257-272.
4. Vishnuvarthan S. and Dr. A. Selvaraj (2012); Railway Passengers Satisfaction: A Study In
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5. Railway Efficiency An Overview and a Look at Opportunities for Improvement Discussion
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