PASSENGER’S SATISFACTION TOWARDS MODERN AMENITIES

PROVIDED BY INDIAN RAILWAYS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE

TO KATPADI JUNCTION.

A PROJECT REPORT

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of the degree of

Bachelor of Commerce

By

KARTHIK .R

(15BCC0072)

Under the Supervision of

Prof. J.Vijayshree
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Indian Railways (IR) is a state owned railway company, responsible for rail transport
in India. It is owned and operated by the government of India through the Ministry of
railways. It is fourth largest railway network in the world comprising 119,630
kilometers (74,330 mi) of total track and 92,081 km (57,216 mi) of running track over
a route of 68,525 km (42,579 mi) with 7,216 stations at the end of 2015-16. In 2015-
16, IR carried 8.107 billion passengers annually or more than 22 million passengers a
day and 1.101 billion tons of freight annually

Indian Railways is the world's 8th biggest employer and had 1.331 million employees
at the end of 2015-16. In 2015–2016 Indian Railways had revenues of ₹1.683 trillion
(US$26 billion) which consists of ₹1.069 trillion (US$17 billion) freight earnings and
₹442.83 billion (US$6.9 billion) passengers earnings. It had operating ratio of 90.5%
in 2015-16.

Indian Railways run on average 13,313 passenger trains daily in 2015-16. Mail or
Express trains, most common type, run at average speed of 50.9 km/hr on Broad
Gauge and 34.2 km/hr on Meter Gauge.

The enlargement of the service sector is an increase in urbanization, privatization 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 defense 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 civilization

1.1- KATPADI JUNCTION

Katpadi Junction is a railway station in the Vellore city. The station is located on
Chennai-Bangalore and Villupuram-Tirupati lines. This is one of the cleaned and well
maintained railway stations in southern railway and also Katpadi Junction is one of
the TOP 20 Revenue Yielding Railway Stations in Tamilnadu. It is located at the
northern end of the city on Chittoor Highway connecting Cuddalore, Tamilnadu and
Chittoor, AP

Layout

The station is served by 5 platforms, of which platforms 4 and 5 primarily serve trains
bound from\to Vellore cantonment & south Tamil Nadu and from and to Andhra
Pradesh. More than 150 passengers trains passing through (Up and Down) Vellore-
Katpadi Junction every day.

Platforms 1 to 3 primarily serve trains bound to Chennai, Bangalore, Coimbatore and

Kerala directions

Facilities

A food plaza maintained by IRCTC is located on platforms 1 and 2. Platform 1, 2 and

3 platforms also have refreshment stalls, ranging from Aavin milk booth, coffee
shops, Hotel, Book stall and Fruit stalls. Toilets and bathrooms are available in
platform no.1, 2, 3 and 5. ATM is located at the main entrance. Digital board in
platform no.1 and 2 shows the departure and arrival of trains with coach numbers.
RPF Police station located at platform no.1. Parcel booking office, Railway Mailing
Service (RMS) is available. Waiting rooms for Upper class and sleeper class
passengers are available in platforms 1, 2 and 3. Separate Waiting hall for ladies also
available.

This station has five counters for unreservation tickets in platform 1. Reservation for
long distance trains is located at Main entrance of the railway station in separate
building with seven counters. For passengers' security, the southern railways have
installed cameras in all platforms.

A CMC Hospital help desk functions at Platform 1

1.2-AMENITIES PROVIDED BY INDIAN RAILWAYS

Bedrolls are supplied free of cost, to all passengers traveling in AC First Class, AC 2-
Tier and AC 3 –Tier. In Garibrath and Duronto (Sleeper class) Trains you need to
request for bedrolls at the time of booking itself and an extra charge of 25 Rs. will be
taken at the time of booking itself.

In India, Indian railway Passes are available for sale in Railway Reservation Offices
at: Ahmadabad, Aurangabad, Bangalore, Howrah, Chennai, Gorakhpur, Hyderabad,
Jaipur, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Secunderabad, Thiruvunanthapuram Central,
Vadodara, Varanasi and Vasco-da- Gama. Certain recognized Travel Agents are also
authorized to sell these passes in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Indian railway
Passes are also sold through General Sales Agents in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Finland,
Germany, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the
UAE and the UK. The cost of the Indian railway Pass varies with the class of travel
and the validity period.

Foreign tourists, who wish to experience India by train, can enjoy the special facilities
earmarked for them. These are explained below in greater detail. Special Quota:
Several important trains have a special quota for foreign tourists. This can be availed
on payment of US Dollars or Pound Sterling. Tourists without foreign currency will
be allotted the special quota on production of the exchange certificates issued by any
nationalized bank. At the time of reservation, the passport number and the country of
origin should be mentioned. Assistance Cells: Major Reservation Centers have special
Cells to help foreign tourists plan their itinerary, reserve their tickets and render any
assistance required. The International Tourist Bureau situated on the first floor of New
Delhi Railway Station provides personalized service and assistance to foreign tourists
and NRIs regarding reservations, itinerary planning and other enquiries. This Bureau
is manned by trained staff and tourist guides, fluent in foreign languages. For any
assistance, please contact: The Manager, International Tourist Bureau, I Floor, New
Delhi Railway Station, New Delhi – 110 001. Tel: 011-23405156, 23346804. Fax:
011-23343050. Indian railways Pass: This travel-as-you-please ticket has been created
especially for foreign tourists and Indian nationals residing abroad. This ticket is
available during specified time period from ½ day to 90 days. Indian railways Passes
should be used within one year of issue. Validity period starts from the date of the first
train journey and ends on the midnight of the last journey. During the period of
validity, foreign tourists can travel from anywhere on the Indian Railways network
without route or train restrictions and without payment of any additional charges.

With a view to optimize the utilization of available accommodation in train, a scheme

to upgrade full fare paying passengers to the next higher class against the available
vacant accommodation has been introduced in all Mail/Express trains having sleeping
accommodation with effect from 24-02-2006. The salient features of the scheme are
given below:-

1. The scheme is applicable to only full fare paying passengers, free of charge.
2. It is applicable only in those trains having sleeping accommodation,
3. The passengers for up gradation will be selected on random basis by the
System at the time of preparation of reservation charts,
4. Up gradation of passengers will be done as under:-
1. Sleeper to 3 AC or First Class
2. 3 AC to 2 AC
3. 2 AC to 1 AC
5. Up gradation will not be done for block booking transactions,
6. If there is no waiting list, no up gradation will take place,
7. If a passenger, who has been upgraded, cancels his ticket, cancellation charges
of the original class only will be payable.
150 ‘A Class’ stations have been identified for providing booths having a prominent
pictorial sign that assistance is available to physically challenged persons. There are
self-help trolleys at all major stations for the convenience of passengers carrying
heavy luggage. There are stretchers and wheel chairs for the use of sick and aged
passengers at select stations. You can contact the Station Managers or RPF Assistance
Posts to make use of these facilities. The other facilities available at important stations
include: Medical Shops, Book Shops, Tourist Information centers, Post & Telegraph
Offices etc. Because Indian Railways cares….As a customer-oriented organization,
Indian Railways values your feedback. Any suggestions for improvement are
welcome. All complaints will be looked into promptly and addressed at the earliest.

There is the Rail Yatri Niwas, where passengers can book independent rooms or
dormitories, on production of tickets. This accommodation is available at a reasonable
cost. The Rail Yatri Niwas also has a self-service restaurant. Currently, this facility is
available only at New Delhi and Howrah Railway Stations. You can book Ginger yatri
Niwas Hotel at New Delhi online also You can book Retiring Rooms and
Dormitories through online also in all the Major stations through IRCTC.

1.3-ABSTRACT

Customer satisfaction and retention is one of the key determinants to measure the
quality of products or services and hence the Indian Railway performance. Due to the
growing importance of quality in our life, customers desire to enjoy a relatively better
quality of products or availing superior quality services has been increased.

India is the Second highly populated country of the world and its rapid population
growth also contributes to an increase of people’s travelling demands. In Indian
Passenger trains is the cheapest and comfortable mode of travelling especially for long
distances. 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 aims to investigate the passengers’ satisfaction about the service quality of
rail transport system in Indian Railways while travelling between the major cities. A
modified SERVQUAL instrument including eight service quality constructs:
Reliability, assurance, tangibles, timeliness, responsiveness, information system,
empathy, food and safety and security were employed to measure the passengers”
perceptions about the service quality of railways. Results indicate that passengers
perceive that quality of services delivered to them is not satisfactory.
 CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITRATURE

Service quality can be described as a rationale of differences between expectation and

competence along the important quality dimensions. Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry
[24] identified ten requirements useful for Passengers‟ evaluation of the quality of
services: reliability, responsiveness, tangibles, Information, Assurance, Empathy,
Food plazas, timeliness, understanding the Passengers and service accessibility.
Zeithaml, Parasuraman, and Berry [25] proposed a service quality scale
(SERVQUAL), a generic instrument that has 8 dimensions of service quality:
reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles, the constructs were
found to have high correlation.

This instrument continues to be widely used in marketing studies of customer

satisfaction and consumer preference, despite some argument that other models may
be better. The stage of performance that a top quality service will need to give was
conditioned through the expectation of the customers. Service quality is judged low
when the performance was below expectation. In the present study, a modified
SERVQUAL instrument was employed to measure the service quality of railways.

Sonne (2009) 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., (2010) on railway passenger service quality valuation carried was out
from December 2009 - June 2010, 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 (2011) 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 check-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. (2013). 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

Anand K Sharma & Mathew J Manimala (2007) 1 outline that there were external as
well as internal causes for the declining performance of Indian Railways. The
budgetary support from the Central Government was dwindling and its financial
situation did not allow higher budgetary support to the Ministry of Railways, besides
the competition from road and air was increasing.

Asian Business Review (2004)2, outlined India is considered to be the latest Asian
economy to reach "tiger" status, is spending billions of dollars with the help of the
Asian Development Bank to upgrade its infrastructure.

Research Publish Journals

Christoph Wolff (2001), summarized that Indian Railways must separate tangential
areas, such as manufacturing and catering, from its core business of providing
logistics service for freight customers and passenger service. India has the world's
most vertically integrated rail system.

G. Raghuram Rachna Gangwar (2007)4 states that Indian Railway needs to respond
to the industry specific needs by interacting with them regularly. There is a potential
for Indian Railway provided high capacity wagons, special purpose wagons, bigger
train loads, closed circuit rakes and round the clock operations are given significant
focus based on the customer specific requirements

Aamna Shakeel Abbasi, Wajiha Khalid, Madeeha Azam and Adnan Riaz (2010), have
found that the customer expectations regarding the services is the most dynamic verb
in the lexis of customer satisfaction is ‘to improve’. Hence the railways like other
industries is realizing the significance of customer centered philosophies with the
overall goal in terms of customer satisfaction, Determinants of Customer Satisfaction
in Hotel Industry of Pakistan, European Journal of Scientific Research Anand K
Sharma & Mathew J Manimala (2007) outline that there were external as well as
internal causes for the declining performance of Indian Railways. The budgetary
support from the Central Government was dwindling and its financial situation did not
allow higher budgetary support to the Ministry of Railways, besides the competition
from road and air was increasing - Sustainability Of The Indian Railways Turnaround:
A Stage Theory Perspective - The International Workshop on Innovation and
Entrepreneurship held at Cankaya University, Ankara, Turkey.

Anil K. Lal and Ronald W. Clement (2005) outline India’s economic development
strategy immediately after Independence was based primarily on the Mahalanobis
model, the Mahalanobis model placed strong emphasis on mining and manufacturing
(for the production of capital goods) and infrastructural development (including
electricity generation and transportation). Over time, India created a large number of
government institutions to meet the objective of growth with equity - Economic
Development in India: The Role of Individual Enterprise (And Entrepreneurial Spirit),
Asia-Pacific Development Journal.
Arpita Mukherjee (2009) analyzed that Mass rapid transport such as the DMRC
(Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) built with government and private initiatives have
increased speed, reduced congestions, and saved time and fuel. Prior to the DMRC,
about 12 million people in the Indian capital commuted by buses and private
transports. The DMRC has provided a comfortable and reliable mode of transportation
at reasonable prices for the middle and low-income groups - Social Impact of
Globalizing Transport Services: The Case of India - Indian Council on International
Economic Relations - International Transport Forum.

Arpita Mukherjee and Ruchika Sachdeva (2004) outline an efficient railway system
lowers the cost of transportation, integrates people and markets across the country,
links backward regions with the mainstream economy by opening them up to trade
and investment, and thereby increases the overall productivity and global
competitiveness of the economy. Trade in Land Transport Services: Railways, Indian
Council for Research on International Economic Relations.

Asian Business Review (2004), outlined India is considered to be the latest Asian
economy to reach "tiger" status, is spending billions of dollars with the help of the
Asian Development Bank to upgrade its infrastructure. - Australian-Swiss locomotives
for Indian Railways.

Christoph Wolff (2001), summarized that Indian Railways must separate tangential
areas, such as manufacturing and catering, from its core business of providing
logistics service for freight customers and passenger service. India has the world's
most vertically integrated rail system. - Getting India's railways on track, McKinsey
Research Report Dan Bogart & Latika Chaudhary (2010) analyzed that Indian
railways experienced rapid TFP growth of 1.7 percent per year from 1874 to 1912.
Moreover, we find no evidence of a decline in TFP relative to trend following state
takeovers of private companies. Our estimation relies on a key feature of the
institutional background whereby the former private railway companies were taken
over by the Government of India at predetermined dates set by contracts negotiated in
the 1850s and 1860s. State Ownership, Productivity and Colonialism: The Case of
Indian Railways.
Gopinath. R (2010), found that difference in customer’s habits, their cognitive
structures and their motives cause them to behave differently when buying. Although
an individual doesn’t act the same way in all situations, people tend to act
consistently, A study on Men’s perception in buying decisions on branded shirts in
Tiruchirappalli District, Asian Journal Of Management Research

G. Raghuram Rachna Gangwar (2007) states that IR needs to respond to the industry
specific needs by interacting with them regularly. There is a potential for IR provided
high capacity wagons, special purpose wagons, bigger train loads, closed circuit rakes
and round the clock operations are given significant focus based on the customer
specific requirements - Marketing Strategies for Freight Traffic on Indian Railways A
Systems Perspective - Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India - Research
and Publications.
2.1- OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

2.1.1- PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

1. To create awareness among the public regarding the facilities provided by the
Indian railway to its passengers both at Katpadi junction and on trains run from and
passing through Katpadi junction.

2. To give the profile of the Indian railway.

3. To study the problems faced by the passengers in utilizing the amenities during the
travel and at the station/Junction.

4. To recapitulate the major finding study and to offer constructive suggestions to

improve the existing amenities to add more facilities to the passengers and for the
maximum utilization of the available amenities.

5. To analyze opinions of selected sample passengers of Katpadi junction on various

amenities provided by Indian Railways

2.1.2- SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

Secondary objectives have been made for future investigation.

1. To analyze the growth and development of the Indian railways.

2. To study the various problems faced by the passengers during their train journey.

3. To examine the benefits of the passengers for their train journey from Katpadi to
other places.

4. To develop the transport infrastructure.

 APPENDIX

Passenger’s satisfaction towards modern amenities provided by Indian railways

with special reference to Katpadi junction

1) AGE
o Below 30
o Between 30 to 40
o Between 41 to 60
o Above 60

2) SEX
o Male
o Female
o Others

3) OCCUPATION

o Student
o Business
o Salaried
o Professional
o Others

4) HOW FREQUENTLY DO YOU AVAIL THE SERVICES OF

RAILWAYS
o Daily
o Weekly
o Occasionally
o Rarely
o Very rarely
5) PURPOSE O JOURNEY
o Study
o Employment
o Touring
o Household matters
o Others

6) REASON FOR YOUR PREERENCE O RAIL SERVICES FROM

OTHER MODES OF TRANSPORT
o Low fare
o Comfort
o Speed
o Security
o Reliability

7) RANK YOUR OPINION AS 1,2,3,4&5 ABOUT IMPROVEMENT IN

PASSENGER AMENITIES FOR MORE THAN A PERIOD OF 5
YEARS
Particulars 1 2 3 4 5
Comfort
Convenience
Safety
Punctuality

8) METHODS OF GETTING TICKETS

o E-ticketing
o Post offices
o Ticket counter
o Vending machine
o Ticket agents
9) DIFFICULTY IN E-TICKETING
o Service charges
o Automatic cancellation o waiting list tickets
o Change in name and boarding
o Connectivity problems

10) DO YOU FAVOR INTRODUCING OF MORE NUMBER OF RAIL

AGENTS TICKET COUNTER
o Yes
o No
o Maybe

11) AVAILABILITY OF SEATS IN TATKAL

o Highly Satisfied
o Satisfied
o Moderate
o Dissatisfied
o Highly Dissatisfied

12) TATKAL PERIOD

o Highly satisfied
o Satisfied
o Moderate
o Dissatisfied
o Highly dissatisfied
 13) AVAILABILITY AND SATISFACTION TOWARD BASIC
AMENTIES
Particulars Excellent Good Satisfactory Poor Very
poor
Cleanliness
on platform
Drinking
water
arrangement
Waiting
room
Seating fans
and lighting
Pay and use
toilet
Charging
sockets

14) AVAILABILITY AND SATISACTION TOWARDS MODERN

AMENITIES
Particulars Excellent Good Satisfactory Poor Very poor
ATM facility
Aquaguard
Purifier
Television
Bio toilet
Escalator
Wi-Fi
 15) OUT STATION OR TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES
Particulars Excellent Good Satisfactory Poor Very
poor
Availability
of porter and
trolleys
Parking
facilities
Availability
of
Auto/taxi/bus

16) Facilities inside train

Particulars Excellent Good Satisfactory Poor Very poor
Telecom
Catering services
Medical assistance
during emergencies
Mobile charging
facilities
Recreation facilities
Facilities for
physically challenged
Rooms available in
coaches
 17) DO YOU FAVOR INTRODUCTION OF MORE NUMBER OF
HELPING DESK
IN KATPADI JUNCTION
o Yes
o No
o Maybe

18) AVAILABILTY OF MODERN AMENITIES

Particulars Satisfied Moderate Not satisfied
Freedom of choice to select
the local cuisine in IRCTC
Food can be ordered
through SMS
Battery operated cars for
differently able and senior
citizen
Combo parking-platform
tickets at stations
GPS based digital display in
coaches for showing
upcoming
Children menu, baby food
for travelling mothers
Cleaning of toilet by request
through SMS
CCTV camera inside
coaches