A STUDY ON PASSENGER’S PERCEPTION &

SATISFACTION TOWARDS
INDIAN RAILWAYS

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements
for the award of the degree of
Bachelor of Business
Administration (BBA)

To

Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi

Guide: Submitted by:

Dr. Mohita Mathur Prince Kumar Goyal
42424401717

Institute of Innovation in Technology & Management,

New Delhi – 110058
Batch (2017-2020)
CONTENTS

S No Topic Page No

1 Certificate (s) -

2 Acknowledgements -

1
 3 Chapter-1: Introduction

4 Chapter-2: Research Methodology

5 Chapter-3: Data Presentation & Analysis

6 Chapter-4: Summary and Conclusions

7 References/Bibliography -

8 Appendices -

CERTIFICATE

I, Mr. PRINCE KUMAR GOYAL, Roll No. 42424401717 certify that the

Project Report (BBA-311) entitled “A STUDY ON PASSENGER’S

PERCEPTION & SATISFACTION TOWARDS INDIAN RAILWAYS” is

2
done by me and it is an authentic work carried out by me at INDIAN

RAILWAYS. The matter embodied in this project work has not been submitted

earlier for the award of any degree or diploma to the best of my knowledge and

belief.

Signature of the Student

Date:

Certified that the Project Report (BBA-311) entitled “A STUDY ON

PASSENGER’s PERCEPTION & SATISFCTION TOWARDS INDIAN

RAILWAYS” done by Mr. PRINCE KUMAR GOYAL, Roll No. 42424401717

is completed under my guidance.

Signature of the Guide

Name of the Guide:
Designation:
Date:

Countersigned
(Director / Project Coordinator)

3
 CHAPTER-1

ORGANISATION PROFILE

4
1.1 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

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.

5
It is one of the world’s largest railway networks comprising 115,000 km of track

over a route of 65,000 km and 7,500 stations. As of December 2012, it transported

over 8,900 million passengers daily (over 9 billion on an annual basis). In 2011, IR

carried over 8,900 million passengers’ annually or more than 24 million

passengers daily (roughly half of which were suburban passengers) and 2.8 million

tons of freight daily. In 2011 -2012 Indian railways had revenues of Rs.1119848.9

million which consists of Rs.696759.7 million from freight and Rs.286455.2 million

from passengers tickets.

Railways were first introduced to India in 1853 from Bombay to thane. In 1951

the systems were nationalized as one unit, the Indian railways, becoming one of

the largest networks in the world. IR operates both long distance and suburban rail

system on a multi gauge network of broad, meter and narrow gauges. It also owns

locomotive and coach production facilities at several places in India and are

assigned cover twenty eight states and seven union territories and also provide lim-

ited international services to Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

An Indian railway is the world’s ninth largest utility or commercial employer, by

number of employees, with over 1.4 million employees. As for rolling stock, IR

holds over 239,281 freight wagons, 59,713 passenger coaches and 9,549 locomotives

(43 steam, 5,197 diesel and 4,309 electric locomotives). The rains have a 5 digit

numbering system as the Indian rail- ways runs about 10,000 trains daily.

1.2 PASSENGER’S 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.

1.3 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.
 CHAPTER-2

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

• To measure the passengers perception and satisfaction towards services offered by

Indian Railways

• To examine the problems faced by the passengers towards Indian Railway

Service.

• To measure the level of satisfaction of the passengers about the services offered by

the Indian Railways.

• To offer suggestions to improve the satisfaction of passengers of the rail system.

2.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is a careful investigation for inquiring in a systematic method

and finding solution of a problem. It comprises the defining and redefining of

problem formulating hypothesis, collection and evaluating data, making detection and

reaching conclusion. This research consists of following element.

2.3 SOURCES OF DATA

2.3.1 Primary Source of Data

Primary data are those collected by the investigator himself for the first time and thus

they are original in character, they are collected for a particular purpose. A well

structured questionnaire was personally administrated to the selected sample to collect

the primary data.

2.3.2 Secondary Source of Data

Secondary data are those, which have already been collected by some other persons for

their purpose and published. Secondary data are usually in the shape of finished

products. External Data, was generated from magazines, research books and internet.

2.4 RESEARCH DESIGN

Descriptive research design is used in this process. There are 3 types of descriptive

research design methods- observational, case study and survey method. The descriptive

method used in this project is survey method. A questionnaire was circulated to collect

the responses.

A sample design is a procedure or plan drawn up before any data are collected to obtain a

sample from a given. It is impossible to conduct a research with entire population. The

sample design was selected in advance according to the objectives of the study.

Sample size determination is the act of choosing the number of observations or replicates

to include in a statistical sample. The sample size is an important feature of any empirical

study in which the goal is to make inferences about a population from a sample.

Sample size of this survey is 60 persons.

2.5 SAMPLING METHODS

It is incumbent on the researcher to clearly define the target population. There are no

strict rules to follow, and the researcher must rely on logic and judgment. The population

is defined in keeping with the objectives of the study.

Sometimes, the entire population will be sufficiently small, and the researcher can

include the entire population in the study. This type of research is called a census study

because data is gathered on every member of the population.

Usually, the population is too large for the researcher to attempt to survey all of its

members. A small, but carefully chosen sample can be used to represent the population.

The sample reflects the characteristics of the population from which it is drawn.

Sampling methods are classified as either probability or non probability. In probability

samples, each member of the population has a known non-zero probability of being

selected. Probability methods include random sampling, systematic sampling, and

stratified sampling. In non probability sampling, members are selected from the

population in some non random manner. These include convenience sampling, judgment

sampling, quota sampling, and snowball sampling. The advantage of probability

sampling is that sampling error can be calculated. Sampling error is the degree to which a

14 sample might differ from the population. When inferring to the population, results are

reported plus or minus the sampling error. In non probability sampling, the degree to

which the sample differs from the population remains unknown.

2.5.1 Random sampling

It is the purest form of probability sampling. Each member of the population has an

equal and known chance of being selected. When there are very large populations, it is

often difficult or impossible to identify every member of the population, so the pool of

available subjects becomes biased.

2.5.2 Systematic sampling

It is often used instead of random sampling. It is also called an Nth name selection

technique. After the required sample size has been calculated, every Nth record is

selected from a list of population members. As long as the list does not contain any

hidden order, this sampling method is as good as the random sampling method. Its only
advantage over the random sampling technique is simplicity. Systematic sampling is

frequently used to select a specified number of records from a computer file.

2.5.3 Stratified sampling

It is commonly used probability method that is superior to random sampling because it

reduces sampling error. A stratum is a subset of the population that share at least one

common characteristic. Examples of stratums might be males and females, or managers

and non-managers. The researcher first identifies the relevant stratums and their actual

representation in the population. Random sampling is then used to select a sufficient

number of subjects from each stratum. "Sufficient" refers to a sample size large enough

for us to be reasonably confident that the stratum represents the population. Stratified

sampling is often used when one or more of the stratums in the population have a low

incidence relative to the other stratums.

2.5.4 Quota sampling

It is the non probability equivalent of stratified sampling. Like stratified sampling, the

researcher first identifies the stratums and their proportions as they are represented in the

population. Then convenience or judgment sampling is used to select the required

number of subjects from each stratum. This differs from stratified sampling, where the

stratums are filled by random sampling.

In this survey Random Sampling technique (Change this)is used.

The research methodology used in this project is questionnaire.

A questionnaire is a set of printed or written questions with a choice of answers, devised

for the purposes of a survey or statistical study. It is a primary method of research.

2.6 TYPES OF QUESTIONNAIRE:

2.6.1 Structured questionnaire

Comes under quantitative research. It includes the low number of researchers and the

high number of respondents. They have a definite and concrete questions. They are also

called as closed questionnaires

2.6.2 Unstructured questionnaire

A version of qualitative survey. They are usually based around more open questions.

Open questions also means recording more data as the respondents can point out what is

important for them, in their own words and methods.

2.6.3 Scaled questionnaires:

The respondents are asked to scale the answers based on a given rating prescribed by the

question. Depending on the type of format used in questionnaires, they are divided into

the following:

2.6.4 Open format questions:

These are the type of questions that are used to allow the respondents to express their

views in a free flowing manner

2.6.5 Closed format questions:

Multiple choice questions comes under this category. The user is restricted to answer

their opinions through the options that is set by the surveyor.

Detail of your questionnaire

2.7 PERIOD OF THE STUDY
The required primary data have been collected through a survey made on railway

passengers from February2020 to March 2020

 CHAPTER-3

DATA PRESENTATION & ANANLSIS

Ques1- From Which Age Group You Belongs To:

Category Respondent Percentage

Below 20 Or 20 20 33.3%

21-30 25 41.7%

31-40 7 11.7%

41-50 4 6.7%

51 & Above 4 6.7%

6.70%
RESPONSES
11.70% 6.70%

BELOW 20 OR 20
21-30
31-40
41.70% 41-50
33.30% 51 & ABOVE

Figure 3.1

INTERPRETATION:

1. The above chart represents the age group of sample size; usually use railways as mode of

transport.

2. Passengers between the age group of {21-30}; are mostly using railways i.e 25 (41.7%) out

of 60 & rest of the passengers belongs to other age groups are using less as shown above in table

and chart.
Ques2- Gender:

Category Responses Percentage

Male 28 46.7%

Female 32 53.3%

Others 0 0.00%

RESPONSES

MALE
FEMALE
46.70% OTHER
53.30%

Figure 3.2

INTERPRETATION-

The above chart shows the proportion of gender use to travel from train.

It represents that approximately there are 47% of males & 53% of females use Indian railways.

On the other hands it also represents that proportionate of female passengers are more then male

passengers.
Ques3- Qualification:

Category Responses Percentage

School 7 11.7%

Graduate 39 65%

Professional 14 23.3%

RESPONSES
23%
SCHOOL LEVEL
GRADUATION
PROFESSIONAL

65% 12%

Figure 3.3

INTERPRETATION-

The above chart represents the qualification level of sample size.

Out of 60 respondents approx 12% are having only school level qualification; 65% of passengers

are graduate or pursuing their graduation & approx 23% are professionals [like CA, Doctor etc.]

It indicates graduate level passengers are more often use railways as others.
Ques4- Profession:

Category Respondent Percentage

Student 38 63.3%

Business 5 8.3%

Salaried 11 18.3%

Professional 4 6.7%

Agriculture 2 3.3%

8.30% RESPONSES

STUDENT
18.30% BUSINESS
SALARIED
PROFESSIONAL
AGRICULTURE
6.70%
63.30%

3.30%

Figure 3.4

INTERPRETATION-

The above chart shows the different category of professionals use to travel from train.

Out of 60 respondents; student category is more often using Indian Railways i.e approx 63% as

compare to other professions.

It represents other then students salaried people i.e approx18% is more often using railways for

commuting.
Ques5- Monthly Income:

Category Respondent Percentage

0 Or Below 20000 33 56.9%

20000-30000 9 15.5%

30000-40000 3 5.2%

40000-50000 8 13.8%

50000 & Above 5 8.6%

RESPONSES
15.50%
0 OR BELOW 20000
20000-30000
5.20%
30000-40000
40000-50000
56.90%
13.80% 50000 & ABOVE

8.60%

Figure 3.5

INTERPRETATION-

The above pie represents the income slabs or income group of people usually travel from Indian

Railways.

Mostly people with monthly income of Rs 0 or below 20000 use to travel from railways i.e

approx 57%.

It shows that railways are mostly use by low income group people.
Ques6- How Often Do You Use Indian Railways?

Category Respondent Percentage

Everyday 9 15%

Weekly 6 10%

Monthly 7 11.70%

Rarely 38 63.3%

15% RESPONSES

EVERYDAY
10% WEEKLY
MONTHLY
RARELY

63% 12%

Figure 3.6

INTERPRETATION-

The above chart shows the frequency of using Indian Railways.

In general, chart indicates that mostly passengers are travelling on rarely basis. i.e approx 63%.

On other hand it also shows 15% of sample is using Indian railways on regular basis as motly it

includes student category.

Ques7- In which class do you travel most?

Category Respondent Percentage

General 17 28.3%

Sleeper 14 23.3%

2nd/3rd A/C 15 25%

1st A/C 14 23.3%

RESPONSES
23.30%
28.30%
GENERAL
SLEEPER
2nd/3rd A/C
1st A/C

25.00%
23.30%

Figure 3.7

INTERPRETATION-

The above chart indicates the different coach classes in which people use to travel.

It indicates approx the proportionate of each class is equal, it means all the classes are equally

preferable by passengers.

But mostly the general class is preferable by people.

Ques8- What Mean Do You Prefer To Book Your Tickets?

 Category Respondent Percentage

Counter Ticket 10 16.7%

IRCTC 36 60%

3rd Party 5 8.30%

Other Portal 9 15%

RESPONSES
8%

COUNTER TICKET
15% IRCTC
3rd PARTY
OTHER PORTAL
60%

17%

Figure 3.8

INTERPRETATION-

This pie chart indicates the means or methods of ticket booking by passengers.

It represents that the most trusted method is IRCTC official website. i.e 60%

Passengers also use other methods also like purchasing of ticket on counters {17%}, 3 rd party

agents {8%} and other travel and tourism portals {15%}.

Ques9- how would you rate Indian railways on several aspects?

  Quality of food offered

 Information provided at platforms

 Pantry service in coaches

 Attitude of train staff

 Cleanliness of platforms

 Cleanliness of pillows and blankets

 Cleanliness of toilets and coaches

 Safety and security

QUALITY OF FOOD OFFEREED

INFO. AT PLATFORMS

PANTRY SERVICES VERY POOR

POOR

ATTITUDE OF TRAIN STAFF NEUTRAL

GOOD
HYGINE OF PLATFORMS
EXCELLENT

HYGINE OF PILLOW & BLANKETS

HYGINE OF COACHES & TOILETS

SAFETY & SECURITY

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Figure 3.9

INTERPRETATION-
The above bar graph shows the satisfaction level of passengers towards the services provided by

Indian Railways.

This graph indicates few services which are very basic to any passenger.

These services are related to cleanliness, hygiene & information.

These services are scaled on ratings of [excellent, good, neutral, poor, very poor].

All the services mentioned above mostly rated between scale of good and neutral, which

indicates the level of satisfaction.

The graph represents passengers are mostly satisfied with the basic services provided by Indian

Railways.

There are very less category of passengers fall under the scale of dissatisfaction.

There are some sort of issues related to safety and security and meal provided by Railways which

can be the reason of dissatisfaction of passengers.

Ques10- How Would You Rate The Overall Services Provided By Indian Railways?
 Category Respondent Percentage

Highly Dissatisfied 4 6.7%

Dissatisfied 8 13.3%

Neutral 32 53.3%

Satisfied 14 23.3%

Highly Satisfied 2 3.3%

RESPONSES
60.00% 53.30%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00% 23.30% RESPONSES
20.00% 13.30%
10.00% 6.70%
3.30%
0.00%
d l d d
fie ied tra fie fie
atis
a it sf ne
u tis tis
iss ss sa sa
d di ly
hl
y igh
g h
hi

Figure 3.10

INTERPRETATION-

This column chart indicates the overall passenger satisfaction toward Indian Railways.

It indicates mostly the passengers behaviour is neutral towards services provided by Indian

Railways.

It simply represents that Indian Railways need improvements on several aspects.

 CHAPTER-4

SUMMARY & CONCLUSION

4.1 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.

The empirical nature of this study is really a contribution to identify the factors that determine

passengers satisfaction in train with service quality of services provided by Indian railways. The

determinants that mostly affects the satisfaction of passengers in rank order is basic facilities,

hygiene, safety & security, catering, punctuality and lastly the least important factor is behaviour

towards passengers.

The Indian rail transportation is gaining importance day by day with the increase of passengers,

the Indian railway has focused to extend its attention to satisfy the needs of customers and made

initiative to improve the quality of services to enrich the satisfaction of customers. Even though

repeated attempts made by the railways to improve the quality of services, the result would not

satisfied to the passengers needs. This reveaks that, continuous, comprehensive, lengthy

intentional performance and attempts are essential to solve these problems. Accordingly, the

researcher give some insights to develop and improve the quality of services to develop and

improve the quality of services to satisfy the passengers in train.

4.2 FINDINGS:
 Basic amenities in the platforms should be improved like cleanliness, availability of fans etc.

 Availability of waiting rooms and clock rooms and retiring rooms needs to be enhanced to

achieve high levels of satisfaction.

 Maintenance of the train coaches needs to be enhanced as much as possible, to achieve

better satisfaction levels.

 Improvement in the quality of the catering services offered has to be given importance. A

benchmark quality has to be set forth and effective measures have to be taken across to

achieve the set standards.

 Many respondents felt that mobile and laptop charging point could be made available at

each berth in a sleeper class train so that it could be used by all the passengers travelling.

Instead of having only one charging point for an entire coupe.

 One of the most negative aspects contributing to the satisfaction levels in this forum is the

grievance handling mechanism. Grievance handling should be taken seriously and a proper

redressal mechanism has to be put in proper place to aid a benchmark level of satisfaction.

4.3 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 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.

 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.

 It is suggested that ministry of railways must take care of basic facilities like

cleanliness, information etc.

 It is also suggested that because of improper handling of complaints passengers are

losing faith from the department. so, it is necessary to maintain a grievance committee

which will help passengers in resolving the complaints.

  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.

4.4 LIMITATIONS OF STUDY:

The limitations of my study are:

1. Indian Railways is a very big industry, so it was difficult to find out all the details about the

railways.

2. As railways are preferred by every kind of person so it is not so easy to communicate and gather

information about their perceptions.

REFRENCES

I. www.indianrailways.com

II. www.indianrailways.co.in

III. www.indianrailways.gov.in

IV. Lauren J. Thomas. Daniel J.A Rhind and Katie J. Robinson (2006), “Rail passenger”

V. Vishnuvarthan S. and Dr. A. Selvaraj (2012); Railway Passengers’ Satisfaction: A

Study In Salem Division of Southern Railway, International Journal of

Advanced Research in Management and Social Sciences ISSN: 2278-6236, December.

ANNEXURE- 1

QUESTIONNAIRE

Ques1- From which age group you belongs to?

(A) Below 20 Or 20 (B) 21-30 (C)31-40 (D)41-50

(E) 51 & ABOVE

Ques2- Your Gender:

(A) Male (B) Female (C) Other

Ques3- Qualification

(A) School Level (B) Graduation (C) Professional {CA, Doctor Etc.}

Ques4 – Profession

(A) Student (B) Business (C) Salaried (D) Professional

(E) Agriculture

Ques5- Monthly Income

(A) 0-20000 (B) 20000-30000 (C) 30000-40000 (D) 40000-50000

(E) 50000& Above

Ques6- How frequently do you use Indian Railways?

(A) Everyday (B) Weekly (C) Monthly (D) Rare

Ques7- In which class do you travel most?

(A) General (B) Sleeper/Chair Car (C) 2nd/3rd A/C (D) 1st A/C

Ques8- What mean do you prefer to book tickets?

(A) Ticket Counters On Station (B) IRCTC Website (C) 3rd Party Agent

(D) Other Portals

31
Ques9- How would you rate Indian railways on several aspects?

Excellent Good Neutral Poor Very

Poor

Cleanliness Of Train Coaches And

Toilets

Safety And Security

Cleanliness Of Pillows And

Blankets

Pantry Service In Coaches

Cleanliness Of Platforms

Information Provided On Platforms

Attitude Of Train Staff

Quality Of Food Offered

Ques10- How would you rate overall services provided by Indian railways?

Rate in order 1 to 5 {1= highly dissatisfied & 5= highly satisfied}

32
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