Passengers' Expectation and Satisfaction on Service

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 9, ISSUE 03, MArch 2020 ISSN 2277-8616

Passengers’ Expectation And Satisfaction On Service Performance In Indian Railway Catering And Tourism Corporation

Dr.K.Krishnakumar, Dr.S.Kavitha

Abstract: In India most of the people prefer railway transportation since it is low cost and convenience. The highly populated country like India it is most important to provide very vast railway transportation system in order to cover the requirements of passengers’ mobility. To offer customized services, it is essential to understand the expectation and satisfaction of the passengers with regard to performance of services offered by the rail system particularly Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation since they are the pioneers of handling the requirements of passengers in online and offline mode. The passenger’s expectation on availability of ticket, on time service, Catering service in train, safety and security measures are high. But the question is how far IRCTC is handling the passengers’ expectations and satisfaction. For evaluating the above said issues the data were collected from 120 respondents of railway passengers in Salem Railway Division which is a part of Southern Railway. Statistical tools such as Percentage analysis, Ranking, ANOVA, One Sample t Test and Chi-square test and Correlation are utilized for the data analysis purpose. The study identified that Reliability, responsiveness, safety and security, convenience, effectiveness, physical facilities, service satisfaction and service quality dimension are most important factors for determining passengers’ satisfaction.

Key Words: Passengers, Convenience, IRCTC, Service Quality, Reliability ————————————————————

1 INTRODUCTION Lan (2006) measured the performance of railways by two Indian Railways are the most important means of transport stochastic distance functions approach where inputs in India. In developing country like India, Rail transport contain number of passengers’ cars, number of fright cars plays a vital role in economic development and industrial and numbers of employees and concluded that railway development. Indian Railways not only provides passenger technical inefficiency and service ineffectiveness are services but also the freight services around the nation. negatively by gross national income per capita percentage They also transport large and heavy materials like cement, electrified line and line density. Stephen (2008) identified coal, iron-ore, petroleum, food grains and jute etc. The the attributes which passengers use to evaluate the service railway network of India has brought together the whole of quality of Indian railways and develops a comprehensive country, thus creating a feeling of unity among the Indians. instrument namely RAILQUAL. The linkage between The Indian Railways network connects the social, cultural, RELIQUAL and passengers‟ satisfaction is also evaluated and economical fabric of the country and covers whole of by the data collected from the passengers of Southern the country ranging from North to South and East to West Railways. The important RAILQUAL factors identified by the removing the distance barrier for the people. Indian passengers are reliability, assurance and empathy. The Railways has helped the economic life of the country and service offered by southern railways is up to the expectation accelerating the development of industry and agriculture. of their passengers. The significant and positive influencing The Indian railway is one of the biggest transporters of RAILQUAL factors on the passenger's satisfaction and passengers’ traffic in the world. The present study is image of the Indian railways were its reliability and completely based on the passengers’ expectation and empathy. The intangible aspects of service performance of satisfaction towards the services offered by the Indian Indian railways have a strong direct and positive effect on Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). Indian the passenger's favourable attitude and image. Agarwal Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is a (2008) found the factors related to Indian Railway services subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the catering, that have an impact on customer satisfaction. The study tourism and online ticketing operations of the Indian was conducted using the survey method. Data were railways, with around 5,50,000 to 6,00,000 bookings every collected from structured questionnaire from a sample of day is the world's second busiest and highest of 15 to 16 500. Factor and regression analysis was used to analyze lakh tickets every day. Its tagline is "Lifeline of the Nation". the data and identified the effect of perception about the The study deals with the various aspects of service quality of performance of various factors on customer dimensions like reliability, responsiveness, convenience, satisfaction and concluded that out of the various employee security and safety, effectiveness and physical facilities behaviour has the maximum effect on satisfaction level of offered by IRCTC since the IRCTC is dealing with tourism, customers with Indian Railways as a whole. Elangovan internet reservation, food plazas, call center etc. (2014) found out the satisfaction level of services offered by the rail system using the SERVQUAL Instrument in Salem division of the southern railway zone. Data were collected ______from 500 respondents in applying stratified random sampling method and analysis of variance was used to test  Associate Professor, Department of Commerce, Periyar the hypotheses and revealed that passengers were fairly University, Salem – 636 011, Tamilnadu, India. email: satisfied with the services offered by the rail system. Juck [email protected], Mobile: 9444242361 (2015) investigated the study production efficiency and  Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Padmavani Arts service effectiveness of the high-speed railways through the and Science College for women, Salem, Tamilnadu, India data collected from 150 respondents’ European railway

6908 IJSTR©2020 www.ijstr.org INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 9, ISSUE 03, MArch 2020 ISSN 2277-8616 station. The study concluded that efficient high-speed rail Rural 68 64.2 system and the contributing factors in achieving high Place of The Semi Urban 38 35.8 Residence Total 106 100.0 performance in production and marketing. Suria (2015) studied on electric rail transportation is important to provide Upto10 62 58.5 Higher Education 42 39.6 high quality service in order to increase the number of Educational Under Graduation 2 1.9 users. The TRANSQUAL Model was used as an instrument Qualification Total 106 100.0 to measure the performance of rail transportation and BelowRs.10000 47 44.3 concluded that the service quality indicators such as Rs.10001- 55 51.9 environment, safety and security, reliability, responsiveness Family Income Rs.20000 and physical facilities were important for public Rs.20001- 2 1.9 transportation systems towards sustainability. In India most Rs.30000 Rs.30001- 1 0.9 of the people are preferring railway transportation due to Rs.40000 low cost and convenience. Satisfaction is based on the AboveRs.40000 1 0.9 perception of passengers on various services offered by the Total 106 100.0 rail system. To offer customized services, it is essential to Student 20 18.9 understand the satisfaction and expectation of the Housewife 9 8.5 passengers with regard to performance of services offered Business 20 18.9 Occupational by the rail system. The railway passengers are facing a lot Private employee 25 23.6 Status Government 32 30.2 of problems. The majority of problems are availability of employee ticket, over crowed, delay in arrival, poor safety measure Total 106 100.0 etc. The research goes a ride on the problems faced by the Unmarried 39 36.8 passengers. Based on the above issues, it is pertinent to Marital Status Married 67 63.2 focus the study on passengers’ satisfaction and expectation Total 106 100.0 of railways with the following question. Joint family 48 45.3 Family Type Nuclear family 58 54.7 Total 106 100.0  What are all the measures of service performance 2-4members 41 38.7 influencing expectations and satisfaction of railway 4-6members 25 23.6 passengers using the services offered by IRCTC? Family Size Above 6members 40 37.7 Total 106 100 2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY (Source: Primary Data)  To know the services offered by IRCTC through service performance measures. The above table depicts the maximum and minimum  To identify the passengers expectation and percentage of demographic factors of the respondents. The satisfaction on service dimensions of IRCTC. study identified that a maximum of 61.3% of respondents are male. Among which a maximum of 51.9% respondents 3 RESEARCH DESIGN are comes under the age group of below 20 years, 64.2% The sample size for the study is 106 respondents of railway are hailing from rural background, 58.5 % are having up to higher secondary education, 44.3 % are earning less than passengers in southern railway Salem city. As the population is being large and time period was limited, it was Rs.10, 000 as income, 30.2% are government employees, decided to choose Convenience sampling techniques. The 63.2% are married, 58% of the respondents are coming primary data was collected from the railway passengers from nuclear family and 38.7 % respondents family size I 2- through a well-structured questionnaire. The secondary 4 members. data were collected from various articles, journals, magazines and websites which provided valuable 5 TRAVEL RELATED PARTICULARS OF THE information related to this topic. Statistical tools such as RESPONDENTS Percentage Analysis Ranking Analysis, One Sample t-Test The following table describes travel particulars of the One Way Analysis of Variances, Chi-Square test and respondents Correlation are used for data analysis. Table – 2 4 DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS OF THE Description of Travel Particulars Variables Frequency Percentage RESPONDENTS (%) The following table describes demographic factor of the Frequent traveler 46 43.4 respondents Occasional traveler 34 32.1 Table 1 Travel Type Description of the Respondents Rare traveler 26 24.5 Variables Frequency Percentage (%) Total 106 100.0 Male 65 61.3 Gender Female 41 38.7 Daily 23 21.7 Total 106 100.0 Weekly once 17 16.0 Below20years 55 51.9 Age 21-30years 51 48.1 Frequency of Travel Monthly once 23 21.7 Total 106 100.0

Three months once 24 22.6 Easy Processing 106 3.0472 4 Efficient 106 3.1604 2 Half yearly 18 17.0 Time Saving 106 3.0094 5 Good for unplanned travel 106 3.0472 4 Yearly once 1 .9 (Source: Primary data ) Total 106 100.0 The ranking analysis identified that the Easy Availability Business/official 22 20.8 (Rank 1), efficient (Rank 2) and comfortable (Rank 3) are

Personal 19 17.9 the three prominent reasons of the passengers for the Purpose of reasons for Booking ticket. The Easy Processing and Good Travel Tourist 17 16.0 for unplanned travel (Rank 4) and Time saving (Rank 5) are rest of the reasons for booking tickets in a particular mode Visiting 17 16.0 friend/relatives of online booking system. Education 30 28.3 7 INFLUENCE OF DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS Medical treatment 1 .9 ON SERVICE PERFORMANCE DIMENSIONS Total 106 100.0 OF IRCTC This section is dedicated for a microscopic analysis of Railway ticket 37 34.9 Methods of booking centers identifying various influences of demographic details on Ticket By agent 36 34.0 service performance dimension of IRCTC. The six factors Booking reliability, responsiveness, Convenience, security and By IRCTC website 33 31.1 Safety, effectiveness and physical facilities as dependent Total 106 100.0 variables. The demographic variables with convenient classifications are taken up as independent variables. This Ac first class 23 21.7 context of research forces to employ the operational systems of ANOVA. Travel Ac 2tire 19 17.9 Class Ac3tire 20 18.9 Table - 4 Influence of Demographic Factors on Service Performance First class 20 18.9 Dimensions of IRCTC

Ac chair car 24 22.6

Sum Mea Total 106 100.0 of n Si Factors Groups df F Economy 26 24.5 Squar Squa g.

e re hic Factors hic Reason for Demograp Preparing Comfortable 42 39.6 Between 5.14 Class 5.149 1 Both 38 35.8 Groups 9

Reliabilit Within 169.19 10 1.62

Total 106 100.0 y Groups 1 4 7

174.34 10 0.078 Total 3.165 (Source: Primary Data) 0 5 Between 1.70 1.705 1 The above table shows that a maximum of 43.4% are Groups 5 Respons Within 186.14 10 1.79 frequent travelers, 22.6% are traveling once in three iveness Groups 4 4 0

months, 28.3% are for education, 34.9% are booking their 187.84 10 0.331 Total .953 thickets in booking counters, 22.6% are preferring a/c chair 9 5 Between car and 39.6% are looking for comfortable journey. .752 1 .752 Groups

Conveni Within 172.84 10 1.66

6 REASON FOR BOOKING IN A PARTICULAR ence Groups 2 4 2

MODE 173.59 10

.453 0.503

Gender Total The ranking analysis has performed for six reasons namely 4 5 Between 2.11 2.110 1 Comfortable, Easy Accessibility, Easy Processing, Efficient, Groups 0 Security

Time Saving and Good for unplanned travel. The mean Within 200.45 10 1.92

and values of the ranks assigned by the respondents are Groups 6 4 7 Safety

displayed in the following table. 202.56 10 0.298 Total 1.095 6 5 Between Table – 3 .165 1 .165 Reason for Booking in a Particular Mode Groups Effective Within 188.77 10 1.81

ness Groups 8 4 5

Reason for booking in a N Mean Rank 188.94 10 0.764 Total .091 particular mode Particulars 3 5

Comfortable 106 3.1132 3

Physical Between

2 0. 8 8 6 7 .060 1 .060 .0 Easy Accessibility 106 3.1792 1 Facilities Groups 6910 IJSTR©2020 www.ijstr.org INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 9, ISSUE 03, MArch 2020 ISSN 2277-8616

Within 219.90 10 2.11 Groups 5 4 4 Groups 2 4 4 219.96 10 Total 219.96 10 2 5 Total 2 5 Between .896 2 .448 Between 2.18 Groups 2.185 1 Groups 5 Within 173.44 10 1.68

Reliabilit

Within 172.15 10 1.65 Groups 4 3 4

Reliabilit y

Groups 5 4 5 174.34 10 0.767 y Total .266

174.34 10 0 5 0.253 Total 1.320 0 5 Between .746 2 .373 Between 1.39 Groups 1.395 1 Groups 5 Respons Within 187.10 10 1.81

Within 186.45 10 1.79 iveness Groups 3 3 7

Respons Groups 4 4 3

187.84 10 0.815 iveness Total .205

187.84 10 9 5 0.380 Total 778 9 5 Between 4.17 8.342 2 Between Groups 1 .028 1 .028

Groups Within 165.25 10 1.60

Conveni Within 173.56 10 1.66 Groups 3 3 4

ence

Conveni Groups 6 4 9 173.59 10 0.079 Total 2.600

ence 173.59 10 4 5

0.897 Total .017 4 5 Between 1.230 2 .615

Age Between 9.02 Groups

9.024 1 Qualification

Groups 4 Security Within 201.33 10 1.95

Security Within 193.54 10 1.86 and Groups 6 3 5

and Groups 2 4 1 Safety 202.56 10 0.731 Total .315

Safety 202.56 10 6 5 0.030 Total 4.849 6 5 Between 1.168 2 .584 Between Groups .421 1 .421 Groups Within 187.77 10 1.82

Effective Within 188.52 10 1.81 Groups 6 3 3

Effective ness

Groups 2 4 3 188.94 10

.320 0.727 ness Total .

188.94 10 3 5 0.631 Total .233 3 5 Between 1.316 2 .658 Between Groups .332 1 .332 Groups Within 218.64 10 2.12

Physical

Within 219.63 10 2.11 Groups 7 3 3

Physical Facilities

Groups 1 4 2 219.96 10 0.734 Facilities Total .310

219.96 10 2 5 0.693 Total .157 2 5 Between 1.84 7.388 4 Between 1.71 Groups 7 1.718 1

Groups 8 Reliabilit Within 166.95 10 1.65

Reliabilit Within 172.62 10 1.66 y Groups 2 1 3

y Groups 2 4 0 174.34 10 0.353 Total 1.117

174.34 10 0 5 0.311 Total 5 1.03 0 5 Between 3.889 4 .972 Between Groups .243 1 .243

Groups Respons Within 183.96 10 1.82

Respons Within 187.60 10 1.80 iveness Groups 1 1 1

iveness Groups 6 4 4 187.84 10 0.711 Total .534

187.84 10 9 5 0.714 Total .135 9 5 Between 1.82 7.295 4 Between Groups 4 .720 1 .720

Groups Conveni Within 166.30 10 1.64

Conveni Within 172.87 10 1.66 ence Groups 0 1 7

ence Groups 5 4 2 173.59 10 0.357 Total 1.108

173.59 10 4 5

.433 0.512

Total Income 4 5 Between 1.47 5.908 4 Between Groups 7 .473 1 .473 Security Groups Within 196.65 10 1.94

Security and

Within 202.09 10 1.94 Groups 8 1 7

and safety

Groups 3 4 3 202.56 10 0.555 safety Total .759

202.56 10 6 5 0.623 Total .243 6 5 Between 1.18 4.731 4 Between 2.93 Groups 3 2.931 1

Groups 1 Effective Within 184.21 10 1.82

Effective Within 186.01 10 1.78 ness Groups 3 1 4

ness Groups 2 4 9 188.94 10 0.629 Total .648

188.94 10 3 5

0.203 Total 9 1.63 3 5 Between 1.03

4.147 4

Between Physical Groups 7 Physical .068 1 .068

Groups facilities Within 215.81 10 2.13

0.85 9 .485 0.747 facilities .032

Within 219.89 10 2.11 Groups 5 1 7 Residence

219.96 10 2 5 Total 2 5 Between 2.75 2.757 1 Between Groups 7 .555 4 .139

Groups Reliabilit Within 171.58 10 1.65

Reliabilit Within 173.78 10 1.72 y Groups 3 4 0

y Groups 4 1 1 174.34 10 0.199 Total 1.671

174.34 10 0 5 0.988 Total .081 0 5 Between 1.02 1.025 1 Between 2.11 Groups 5 8.474 4

Groups 9 Respons Within 186.82 10 1.79

Respons Within 179.37 10 1.77 iveness Groups 4 4 6

iveness Groups 5 1 6 187.84 10 0.452 Total .571

187.84 10 9 5 0.319 Total 1.193 9 5 Between 2.68 2.684 1 Between 1.92 Groups 4 7.710 4

Groups 8 Conveni Within 170.91 10 1.64

Conveni Within 165.88 10 1.64 ence Groups 0 4 3

ence Groups 4 1 2 173.59 10 0.204 Total 1.633

173.59 10 4 5 0.327 Total 1.174 4 5 Between 2.99 2.994 1 Between 1.46 Groups 4

5.842 4 Type Family Security

Groups 1 Within 199.57 10 1.91

Occupation

Security and Within 196.72 10 1.94 Groups 2 4 9

and safety

Groups 4 1 8 202.56 10 0.214 safety Total 1.560

202.56 10 6 5 0.560 Total .750 6 5 Between 1.78 1.786 1 Between 1.22 Groups 6 4.898 4

Groups 4 Effective Within 187.15 10 1.80

Effective Within 184.04 10 1.82 ness Groups 7 4 0

ness Groups 6 1 2 188.94 10 0.321 Total .992

188.94 10 3 5 0.613 Total .672 3 5 Between .000 1 .000 Between 1.86 Groups 7.448 4

Groups 2 Physical Within 219.96 10 2.11

Physical Within 212.51 10 2.10 facilities Groups 2 4 5

facilities Groups 4 1 4 219.96 10 0.990 Total .000

219.96 10 2 5 0.476 Total .885 2 5 Between 2.16 4.330 2 Between 2.74 Groups 5 2.745 1

Groups 5 Reliabilit Within 170.01 10 1.65

Reliabilit Within 171.59 10 1.65 y Groups 0 3 1

y Groups 4 4 0 174.34 10 0.274 Total 1.312

174.34 10 0 5 0.200 Total 1.664 0 5 Between 3.64 7.290 2 Between Groups 5 .259 1 .259

Groups Respons Within 180.56 10 1.75

Respons Within 187.59 10 1.80 iveness Groups 0 3 3

iveness Groups 0 4 4 187.84 10 0.130 Total 2.079

187.84 10 9 5 0.705 Total .144 9 5 Between 1.917 2 .958 Between Groups .161 1 .161

Groups Conveni Within 171.67 10 1.66

Conveni Within 173.43 10 1.66 ence Groups 7 3 7

ence Groups 4 4 8 173.59 10 0.564 Total .575

173.59 10 4 5 0.757 Total .096 4 5 Between 1.68 3.375 2 Between Groups 8 .191 1 .191 Size Family Security

Groups Within 199.19 10 1.93 Marital Status Marital Security and

Within 202.37 10 1.94 Groups 1 3 4

and safety

Groups 5 4 6 202.56 10 0.421 safety Total .873

202.56 10 6 5 0.755 Total .098 6 5 Between 1.734 2 .867 Between 3.56 Groups 3.567 1

Groups 7 Effective Within 187.21 10 1.81

Effective Within 185.37 10 1.78 ness Groups 0 3 8

ness Groups 6 4 2 188.94 10 0.622 Total .477

188.94 10 3 5 0.160 Total 2.001 3 5 Between 1.378 2 .689 Between 2.14 Groups 2.141 1

Groups 1 Within 218.58 10 2.12

Physical Physical

Within 217.82 10 2.09 Groups 5 3 2 facilities facilities

Groups 2 4 4 219.96 10

0.314 .325 0.724 1.022 Total Total 219.96 10 2 5

Effectiveness 47.655a 56 0.779 From the above table, it is identified that the overall service Physical Facilities 57.846a 64 0.693 performance dimensions in IRCTC among the passengers with reference to demographic factors is not significant. It Reliability 58.722a 60 0.523 denotes that the variation of perception on service a Responsiveness 56.454 64 0.737 performance among the passengers is existed a Convenience 73.037 64 0.205 a 8 ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DEMOGRAPHIC Security and Safety 73.739 64 0.190 FACTORS AND FACTORS INFLUENCING ON Occupation Effectiveness 57.548a 56 0.418 SERVICE PERFORMANCE OF IRCTC Physical Facilities 45.547a 64 0.961 The emergence of heterogeneous characterized nature of Reliability 16.519a 15 0.348

the study paved the way for a fascinating vista of a association between the factors influencing service Responsiveness 19.634 16 0.237

performance and demographic factors.. A non-parametric Convenience 15.596a 16 0.482 Status approach with chi-square analysis is employed to find the Security and Safety 14.128a 16 0.589 proximity among various groups of customers and their a perception. Marital Effectiveness 15.573 14 0.340 Physical Facilities 17.901a 16 0.330 Table -5 Reliability 11.834a 15 0.692 Association between Gender and factors influencing on a Service Performance of IRCTC Responsiveness 24.262 16 0.084 a Demo Asymp. Convenience 23.645 16 0.098 graphi Particulars Value df Sig. Security and Safety 15.980a 16 0.454 c (2-sided) Family Type Family Effectiveness 10.279a 14 0.741 Reliability 18.652a 15 0.230 Physical Facilities 15.215a 16 0.509 a Responsiveness 14.257 16 0.580 a

Reliability 44.856 30 0.040 a Convenience 14.433 16 0.567 a Responsiveness 41.443 32 0.123 a Security and Safety 20.242 16 0.210 a Gender Convenience 37.437 32 0.234 Effectiveness 18.415a 14 0.189 Security and Safety 52.993a 32 0.011 Physical Facilities 16.043a 16 0.450 Family Size Family Effectiveness 21.669a 28 0.796 Reliability 18.319a 15 0.246 Physical Facilities 19.513a 32 0.959 a Responsiveness 12.952 16 0.676 a Convenience 10.267 16 0.852 The above table describes the association between a Age Security and Safety 18.981 16 0.270 demographic factors and factors influencing on service

a performance of IRCTC. The analysis identified that the Effectiveness 15.615 14 0.337 calculated values are above the table value. Therefore, it is Physical Facilities 15.255a 16 0.506 concluded that there is an association between demographic Reliability 14.307a 15 0.502 factors and factors influencing on Service Performance of IRCTC. a Responsiveness 16.468 16 0.421 Convenience 14.509a 16 0.561 9 RELATIONSHIP AMONG THE FACTORS OF Security and Safety 16.575a 16 0.414 SERVICE PERFORMANCE OF IRCTC Residence Effectiveness 12.709a 14 0.550 A parametric approach is important to identify the proximity Physical Facilities 24.317a 16 0.083 of the factors and the in nature of relationship. In particular, the researcher had identified reliability, responsiveness, a Reliability 65.999 30 0.000 convenience, security and safety, effectiveness, physical a Responsiveness 38.365 32 0.203 facilities and service satisfaction. Hence, it is essential to identify the interrelationship among various factor of service Convenience 38.365a 32 0.203 performance. Security and Safety 21.195a 32 0.927 Table - 6 a Qualification Effectiveness 24.074 28 0.678 Relationship among the factors of Service Performance of

a IRCTC Physical Facilities 31.758 32 0.479 Sec Res Phy a Conv urity Effecti Reliability 45.859 60 0.911 Reliab pons sical

enien and venes a ility iven facili Responsiveness 75.197 64 0.160 ce Safe s ess ties

Convenience 45.011a 64 0.966 ty Income Security and Safety 38.931a 64 0.994

Pearso The following table describes the satisfaction level of * n .292 .415 .411 - passengers among all over service performance dimension. 1 ** ** .046 Correla * .016 One sample t test has been applied to extract the results. tion Sig.(2- .002 .000 .000 .642 .872

Reliability tailed) Table – 7 Satisfaction Level of Passengers on Performance N 106 106 106 106 106 105 Dimensions of IRCTC Pearso - n * .332 ** 1 .387 -.100 .010 Std. Std. Sig. Correla .292 ** * icula

** rs N Mean Deviati Error T (2- tion on Mean tailed)

Sig.(2- Part .002 .000 .001 .308 .921

tailed) Responsiveness N 106 106 106 106 106 105 1.2885 -

ity 106 2.6981 .12516 0.018

Pearso 6 2.412 Reliabil n .387 .254 .046 ** 1 .044 Correla .415 ** ** **

tion Sig.(2- 1.3375 .000 .000 .009 .657 .643 106 2.9623 .12991 -.290 0.772

tailed) 5

iveness Convenience

N 106 106 106 106 106 105 Respons

Pearso * n ** .332 .254 .074 1.2858 - .411 ** 1 .058 ** 106 2.8208 .12489 0.154

Correla * ence 0 1.435

tion Conveni and Safety and Sig.(2- .000 .001 .009 .555 .454 tailed) 1.3889 -

N 106 106 106 106 106 105 106 2.7736 .13491 0.096 Security

and and 6 1.678 safety

Pearso Security

n - .046 .044 .058 1 .035

Correla .100

tion 1.3414 - Sig.(2- 106 2.8302 .13029 0.195

.642 .308 .657 .555 .723 ness 4 1.303

tailed)

Effective Effectiveness

N 106 106 106 106 106 105 1.4473 Pearso 106 2.9811 .14058 -.134 0.893

n - 7

facilities

.024 -.089 .135 -.115 .070 Physical Correla .062

tion Physical acilities Sig.(2-

F .809 .529 .369 .170 .243 .480 From the above table, it is found that the mean values of

tailed)

service satisfaction factors ranges from 2.6981 to 2.9811 N 105 105 105 105 105 104 with varying standard deviations. The significant t – values for all those factors are presented in the above table. It is From the above table, it is found that reliability factor is shown that passengers satisfaction on service performance positively correlated to responsiveness factor (r=0.292, p dimensions factor reliability (t= -2.412, p=0.018) is value=0.002), convenience factor(r=0.415, p value=0.000), statistically significant at 5% level. The remaining factors security and safety factor(r=0.411, p value=0.000). such as Responsiveness (t= -2.290, p=0.772), Responsiveness factor is positively correlated to reliability Convenience (t=-1.435, p=0.154), effectiveness (t= -1.303, factor (r=0.292, p value=0.002), convenience p=0.195), security and safety (t= -1.678, p= 0.096), factor(r=0.387, p value=0.000), security and safety Physical Facilities (t=.134, p=0.893) are not statistically factor(r=0.332, p value=0.001). Convenience factor is significant at 5% level. Therefore, it is concluded that the positively correlated to reliability factor (r=0.415, p passengers’ agreement level on service performance value=0.000), responsiveness factor (r=0.387, p dimensions is less. value=0.000), security factor (r=0.254, p value=0.009). Security and safety factor is positively correlated to reliability 11 CONCLUSION factor (r=0.411, p value=0.000), responsiveness Although several studies have attempted to identify the factor(r=0.332, p value=0.001), convenience factor(r=0.254, factors determining overall passengers’ expectation and p value=0.009). Hence, it is clearly identified that there is a satisfaction with reference to Indian Railways, but an correlation existed among the above said factors only. exclusive attempt has been made in this study to know the service expectations and performance with regard to 10 PASSENGERS SATISFACTION ON satisfaction of passengers using IRCTC a subsidiary unit of Indian railways. The determinant factors identified are SERVICE PERFORMANCE DIMENSIONS OF reliability, responsiveness, security and safety, IRCTC convenience, effectiveness, and physical facilities. From the

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Devi Prasad M and Raja Shekhar B (2010), [19]. http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/railways/indian- ―Measuring service quality of Indian railway railway-significance-and- problems-of-indian- passenger services using RAILQUAL model,‖ railways/14136 IEEE ICMIT10, pp 292-296,. [20]. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil- [4]. Dr. Kalaiselvi, A., Sandhya (2014), passengers nadu/Salem-among-top-10- cleanest-railway- satisfaction towards railway services with stations/article14511979 reference to coimbatore junction, International Journal of development research vol. 07, issue, AUTHOR PROFILE 10, pp.16328-16330, october, 2017 Dr.K.Krishnakumar, Associate Professor, [5]. Dr.D .Elangovan (2014) ―Passenger’s Satisfaction Department of Commerce, Periyar University, on Service Offered by the Rail System‖, IRACST- Salem, TamilNadu, India, has qualified with International Journal of Commerce, Business and M.Com, M.Phil, MBA., Ph.D. He is having 20 Management, vol.3,pp 248-255. years of teaching, 15 years of research and 6 [6]. G. Rajeshwari and Dr. D. Ellangovan (2014) years of industrial experience. He has published more than Passengers’ Perception of Railways (A Study in 110 articles in UGC listed, peer reviewed, and Scopus Salem Division of Southern Railway Zone), indexed journals and authored 2 text books. He has International Journal of Scientific Research and participated and presented papers in more than 150 Reviews, vol. 3(1),pg 189 – 199. National and International Conferences and Seminars. So [7]. Geetikagoel (2011) Determinants of Customer far he has guided 9 Ph.D scholars and currently 6 scholars Satisfaction on Service Quality, A Study of are pursuing their Ph.D. He actively participates as a Railway Platforms in India,Journal of Public resource person in various seminars and conferences and Transportation, Vol.13, No. 1, 2010, delivered more than 60 special addresses and invited talks [8]. Lawernce W. Lan (2006), ―Performance in various institutions. He is a life member of Indian Measurement for Railway Transport Stochastic Accounting Association and Indian Academic Researchers Distance Functions with Inefficiency and Association. So far he has registered eight copyrights for Ineffectiveness Effects‖, Journal of Transport his research models in copy right office, India. He is the Economics and Policy, vol.40,pp 383-408. associate editor and editorial board member of various [9]. M. Devi and Dr. B. Raja Shekhar(2010), Impact of journals. He received Bharat Jothi award, Best citizens of Service Quality Management (SQM) Practices on India Award, Best Research Advisor Award, Best Social Indian Railways - A Study of South Central Scientist Award, Bharat Excellence Award and Best Railways , International Journal of Business and Educationalist in India Award, Dronocharya Award and Management Vol. 5, No. 9. Excellence in Commerce Award from various reputed [10]. Marin Marinov (2014) ―Analysis of Rail Yard and institutions. Terminal performance‖, Journal of Transport Literature‖. Vol.8, pp.32-38. CO-AUTHOR PROFILE [11]. Rarchan, Dr.M.V.Subha (2008), A study on Dr. S.Kavitha, Assistant Professor, Department of service performance and passenger satisfaction Commerce, Padmavani Arts and Science on Indian railways International Journal of College for women, Salem, Tamilnadu, India Multidisciplinary Research Vol.2 Issue 2, February has qualified with M.Com., M.Phil., MBA., 2012, ISSN 2231 5780. Ph.D. She is having 5 years of teaching [12]. ReetiAgarwal (2008), ―Public Transportation and experience. She has published 14 articles in Customer Satisfaction‖, Journal of Service National and International Journals. She has Marketing in Transportation, vol.9,pp 435-450.. participated and presented papers in 45 National and [13]. Stephen M. Famurewa (2014), ―Maintenance International Conferences and Seminars. So far she has Analysis for Continuous Improvement of Railway attended two Faculty Development Programmes sponsored

6915 IJSTR©2020 www.ijstr.org INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 9, ISSUE 03, MArch 2020 ISSN 2277-8616 by ICSSR. She is a life member of Indian academic researcher association and Indian Accounting Association. She has two copyrights for her researcher models attained from copyrights office of Government of India. She has received Best Researcher Award and Best Faculty Award from reputed institutions.