A Study on Satisfaction of Passengers Towards Railway Service in Tiruchirappalli Junction

Home , Mysore, Southern Railway zone

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 9, ISSUE 01, JANUARY 2020 ISSN 2277-8616 A Study On Satisfaction Of Passengers Towards Railway Service In Tiruchirappalli Junction

G. V. Mageshwarii, Dr. S. Vasanthi

ABSTRACT : The transportation sector plays a significant role in the economy by impacting on development and the welfare of populations. Indian railways navigate the length and breadth of our nation by endowing with the required connectivity. The Southern Railway zone was established on 14th April 1951, by merging together the three railways namely the South Indian Railway, Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway and Mysore State Railway. The main purpose of the study aims at knowing the level of Satisfaction of the railway passenger. For this purpose 544 passengers were selected using Multi stage sampling technique and the result exposed a satisfactory outcome.

KEYWORDS: Transportation, Indian Railways, Satisfaction, factor analysis ————————————————————

1.1 INTRODUCTION 3. Light Rail Transit (LRT) in Malaysia. For this study, Mobility is an important aspect in transportation as it helps the service quality attributes are classified into two in moving either the passenger or freight from one location categories namely attributes at the train stations to another. The transportation sector plays a significant role and inside the train. The study was carried to three in the economy by impacting on development and the hundred passengers and data was analysed using welfare of populations. The entire configuration of industry Penalty-Reward Contrast Analysis (PRCA) and and commerce lean on the well laid establishment of Adequate Importance Model (AIM). PRCA transportation. The development of railways in India is a classified the service attributes and AIM measured milestone in the evolution of human civilisation. Indian the overall satisfaction of each service attributes. Railways has been working perpetually for the last several The result of the study was illustrated using KANO decades to run both long distance and suburban rail Model which shows that almost all service systems on a multi-gauge network of broad, meter and attributes are at a satisfactory level except four narrow gauges. It is the fourth largest railway network in the attributes namely cleanliness, safety, efficiency and world, transporting 8.397 billion passengers and over 106 service of staff. million tons of freight annually, as of 2014. The Southern 4. Abadi Dwi Saputra (2010) made a study to analyze Railway was established on 14th April 1951, by merging the comparison effect of customer satisfaction together the South Indian Railway, Madras and Southern between PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PTKAI) Rail Mahratta Railway and Mysore State Railway. Tiruchirappalli service and with Statens Järnvägar(SJ) AB Rail division was inaugurated on 16th January 1956. This service of Sweden. The research finding shows division is considered as „Pilgrim Paradise‟ and also called that six factors of service quality attributes has a as the temple division of the Indian Railway. It offers an significant influence to customer satisfaction assortment of facilities to the passengers to make a towards PTKAI service for commuter class and comfortable and satisfaction voyage to the passengers. seven factors for business and executive class. Hence, this paper is an attempt to find passengers‟ The author recommended certain areas such as satisfaction on services offered by the Railway in service standard design, service guarantee and Tiruchirappalli junction of Southern Railway. complaint handling system are needed to be adjusted according to the interest of customers. 1.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE Finally author concludes to learn the recommended 1. Vanniarajan.T & Stephen. A (2008) carried out an action from Statens Järnvägar (SJ) AB of Sweden empirical study on Railqual and passenger to improve further. satisfaction among Southern Railway passengers. 5. S. Vishnuvarthani, A. Selvaraj (2012) in their article The main objectives of the study were to analyze measured the relationship between the awareness the gap between perceptions and expectations of level and passengers‟ satisfaction in Salem railway service quality and also to examine the impact of division and the result indicated that the perception on Railqual factor towards the passengers had low level of awareness and the passenger‟s satisfaction and the image of Indian railway services were unable to satisfy the Railways. The findings of the study disclosed that customers‟ needs. The author advised to have the reliability and responsiveness dimension had a effective functioning of Grievance Redressal cell, positive influence on passenger satisfaction adequate index boards, bulletin board, and whereas reliability and empathy dimension had a articulate clear announcement so as to increase significant positive effect on the image of Indian the awareness level among the passengers. Railways. The authors concluded that continuous 6. J.Anuradha (2014) in her study titled “Passenger‟s improvement in the service quality and facilities Satisfaction towards Railway Service” explained offered can enhance passenger loyalty towards about passenger awareness and satisfaction levels Indian Railways. in Erode junction. Seven factors were analysed 2. Ng Ying Peng, Wan Rosmanira et al. (2008) through rank analysis and it is found that comfort conducted a study on “Customer Satisfaction of variable ranked the first. Author also have examined that passenger satisfaction level is in 2843 IJSTR©2020 www.ijstr.org INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 9, ISSUE 01, JANUARY 2020 ISSN 2277-8616

between the high and low level and offered some were analysis of variance (ANOVA) and exploratory factor suggestive measures to create awareness among analysis. the passengers regarding various services offered because 76.4% of the sample passengers were 1.6 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION unaware of it. 1 7. A. Kalaiselvi, D. Sandhya, C.G Athira (2017) in Table 1: Travel Factors their article studied about the passenger S. Travel Particulars Frequency Percentage satisfaction towards railway service in Coimbatore No factors (%) junction. They concluded that the availability of I Class AC 155 28.5 1. AC Two Tier 173 31.8 power, responsiveness of railway staffs, safety and Class AC Three Tier 131 24.1 security, digital display and individualized attention travelled were revealed to be the most significant factors of AC Chair Car 85 15.6 Total 544 100.0 satisfaction among the passengers. Below 1 29 5.3 Number of 2. 1-5 213 39.2 journey Above 5 302 55.5 1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM hours Satisfaction is a judgement of pleasurable level of Total 544 100.0 assumption related fulfilment including level of under Daily 46 8.5 Weekly 49 9.0 fulfilment or over fulfilment. According to olive et al. (1992), Frequency 3. Monthly 201 36.9 of travelling satisfaction is whereby the service provider meets the Rarely by Railways 248 45.6 expectations and norms of customers. Kotler (1991) opines (Occasionally) that satisfaction is the post-purchase evaluation of products Total 544 100.0 or services taking into consideration the expectations. Express/Mail 272 50.0 Therefore it is essential for all organisation either profit or Superfast 169 31.1 non profit organisations and even governments to 4. Type of Jan Shatabti 54 9.9 train utilized Intercity endeavour to deliver satisfactory outcomes to customers. 49 9.0 Express Indian railway being a monopoly must satisfy the Total 544 100.0 passengers‟ needs in order to compete intense competition Official 120 22.1 in transportation market. Based on the above issue the Personal 173 31.8 following questions were raised: 5. Purpose of Education 78 14.3 1. What is the travel factors existing in Southern travel Pilgrimage 39 7.2 Railways? Others 134 24.6 2. What is the level of satisfaction of passengers Total 544 100.0 towards the services offered by Southern Source: Primary data Railways? The above Table 1 shows that 31.8 percent of the

passengers preferred to travel in AC Two Tier class, 28.5 1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY percent of the passengers preferred to travel in I Class AC, 1. To identify the travel factors influencing the 24.1 percent of the passengers preferred to travel in AC passengers Three tier class and 15.6 percent of the passengers 2. To measure the level of satisfaction of the preferred to travel in AC Chair Car. Similarly, for number of passengers on services provided by the southern journey hours, 55.5 percent of the passengers travelled railways above 5 hours of journey time, 39.2 percent of the 3. To present valuable recommendation to improve passengers travelled between 1-5 hours of journey time the satisfaction level of the passengers. and remaining 5.3 percent of the passengers travelled below 1 hour of journey time. In case of type of train 1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY utilized, 50.0 percent of the railway passengers utilized This is a descriptive research based on survey method. The Express/Mail type of train, 31.1 percent of the railway present study is confined only to Tiruchirappalli junction. passengers utilized Superfast type of train, 9.9 percent of This study is based on primary data collected through the railway passengers utilized Jan Shatabdi type of train structured questionnaire from 544 passengers. All the items and 9.0 percent of the railway passengers utilized Intercity were put on a 5 point likert scale ranging from strongly express type of train. Similarly, for purpose of travel, 31.8 agree to strongly disagree. The respondents were drawn by percent of the passengers have travelled by personal work, the means of multi-stage sampling method. The theoretical 24.6 percent of the passengers have travelled for other foundation of the study is based on various secondary related purpose, 22.1 percent of the passengers have sources such as books, journals, annual reports of railways travelled by official work, 14.3 percent of the passengers and websites. Statistical tools applied for data analysis have travelled by educational purpose and 7.2 percent of the passengers have travelled for pilgrimage purpose. Similarly, for frequency of travelling by Railways, 45.6

1 percent of the passengers have travelled rarely, 36.9 Kalaiselvi, A., Sandhya, D. Athira, C.G, “Passenger percent of the passengers have travelled monthly, 9.0 satisfaction towards railway service with reference to percent of the passengers have travelled weekly and 8.5 Coimbatore junction”, Internation Journal of Development percent of the passengers have travelled daily. Research (IJRD), Volume 7, Issue 10, October 2017, pp. 16328-16330. Travel Factors vs. Level of Satisfaction 2844 IJSTR©2020 www.ijstr.org INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 9, ISSUE 01, JANUARY 2020 ISSN 2277-8616

In tune with the objectives of the study, null hypotheses were framed. The following table illustrates the results of Table 3: KMO and Bartlett's Test for Passenger’s ANOVA in terms of travel factors, f values and P values. Satisfaction H : There is no significant difference between travel factors 0 Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. 0.701 and the passengers‟ level of satisfaction on train services of Southern Railways. Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Chi-Square value 1393.95 Ha: There is a significant difference between travel factors P value <0.001** and the passengers‟ level of satisfaction on train services of Source: Primary data Southern Railways. Note: ** Denotes significant at 1% level

Table 2: ANOVA TEST The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy is S. a statistic that indicates the proportion of variance in Travel factors Particulars F value P value No variables that might be caused by underlying factors. The 40.26b I Class AC Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value of 0.701 which is greater than (5.20) a 0.50 indicate that a factor analysis is useful with our data. 37.15 AC Two Tier Class (6.24) Bartlett's test of Sphericity tests the hypothesis that 9.941 <0.001** 1. travelled 39.82 correlation matrix is an identity matrix, which would indicate AC Three Tier (5.64) that variables are unrelated and therefore unsuitable for 37.95 AC Chair Car structure detection. Since P value is less than 0.01, the (6.10) hypothesis is rejected and indicate that variables are 38.72 Below 1 related a factor analysis and is useful with our data. 2. (4.91) Number of 39.23 1-5 0.884 0.414 journey hours (5.34) Table : 4 Factor Loading, Eigen value and Percentage of 38.52 Extraction using Principle Component Method based on Above 5 (6.41) Passenger’s Satisfaction

37.68 Statement for Daily Factor Eigen % of Cumulativ (6.39) Factor passenger 40.73 loading Values variance e % Frequency of Weekly satisfaction (4.64) travelling by 11.806 <0.001** 39.98 Railways take good 3. Railways Monthly care and diligence (4.99) 0.703 to serve the 37.16 Rarely passengers (6.41) 36.54 Passengers Express/Mail (5.78) experience safe 38.53 and comfortable 0.695 Superfast (8.10) journey with Type of train 38.97 2.613 0.051 railways utilized Jan Shatabti 4. (5.73) Railways staff are 2.283 22.834 22.834 0.599 I kind and humble Intercity 39.15 Express (5.56) Railways is a trustworthy and a 40.42 0.582 Official secured service (5.42) sector 39.76 Personal (5.94) Railways provide

38.91 excellent services Education 9.785 <0.001** 0.538 Purpose of (6.34) than other modes of 5. travel 37.59 transport Pilgrimage (3.17) Passengers‟ have 36.42 Others reputed image on 0.776 (6.01) Railways Source: Primary data Passengers feel Note : 1. The value within bracket refers to SD zest and joy while 0.722 20.006 42.839 2.001 2. ** denotes significant at 1% level. II travelling by train 3. Different alphabet among Class travelled Passengers are endowed with neat denotes significant at 5% level using Duncan Multiple 0.543 Range Test (DMRT) and hygienic ambience Railway services From the above table null hypothesis were rejected with 0.809 respect to class travelled, frequency of travelling by seems wiser for me railways and purpose of travel at 1 % level of significance Railways provide whereas for the number of journey hours travelled and type better and fast 1.837 18.374 61.214 III service with 0.708 of train utilized the null hypothesis was accepted at 5 % updated technology level of significance. and communication system Factor analysis

We note that 3 factors have been extracted, based on our hours travelled and type of train utilized preference criterion that only Factors with Eigen values of one or more class and the level of satisfaction. should be extracted. We see from Cumulative Percentage 7. Factor analysis has reduced 10 variables to 3 of Variance explained in the above table that the 3 Factors underlying factors namely Creditability of customer, extracted together account for 61.214 percent of the total Putative of customer and Elucidation of system. variance from the information contained in the original 10 variables. This is a pretty good result, because we are able 1.8 SUGGESTIONS to economize on the number of variables (from 10 we have 1. Good amenities, quality food and medical aids reduced them to 3 underlying factors), while we lost only should be provided to enlarge the number of long about 38.786 percent of the information content (61.214 distance travelled passengers. percent is retained by the 3 Factors extracted out of the 10 2. By installing more reservation counters to help the original variables).This represents a reasonably good passengers to reserve their tickets in short period solution for the problem. Also from the above table of the of time better customer satisfaction can be rotated factor matrix, notice that five variable have loadings achieved. of 0.703, 0.695, 0.599, 0.582 and 0.538 on factor I with 3. Increasing the number of trains will help the eigen value of 2.283 and their percentage of extraction is passengers to utilize more train travels. 22.834. This suggests that Factor 1 is a combination of these 5 original variables which are “Railways take good 1.9 CONCLUSION care and diligence to serve the passengers”, “Passengers Indian railways provide a convenient, reliable, accessible experience safe and comfortable journey with railways”, and economical means of public transport. It is a great “Railways staff are kind and humble”, “Railways is a asset to the nation and so the satisfaction of the passenger trustworthy and a secured service sector”, and “Railways is crucial important for the organisation. The core purpose provide excellent services than other modes of transport”. of the study is to know the satisfaction level of the railway At this point, the researcher‟s task is to find a suitable passengers. The findings revealed that majority of the phrase which captures the essence of the 5 original passengers are satisfied with the services offered. If the variables which form the underlying concept or “factor”. In suggestive measurement were also considered positively, it this case, Factor I could be named as “Creditability of is hope that the Indian Railways will shine and bring customer”. Similarly three variables have loadings of 0.776, grandeur to our country in the near future. 0.722 and 0.543 on factor II with eigen value of 2.001 and their percentage of extraction is 20.006. This suggests that Factor 2 is a combination of these 3 original variables which 1.10 REFERENCES are “Passengers‟ have reputed image on Railways”, [1] Vanniarajan. T and Stephen. A, “Railqual and “Passengers feel zest and joy while travelling by train”, and Passenger Satisfaction: An Empirical Study in “Passengers are endowed with neat and hygienic Southern Railways”, Asia-Pacific Journal of ambience”. 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