A Study On Service Quality Gap With Reference To Hyd Metro

A STUDY ON SERVICE QUALITY GAP WITH REFERENCE TO
HYDERABAD METRO RAIL
Submitted to
SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

In partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of
“MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION”
By
Rakshitha Reddy
Roll no. 17311E0049
Under the guidance of
Dr. Harinath Karimikonda, MBA Ph.D
ASSISTANT PROFESSER
SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

SREENIDHI NSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(Affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru technological university)
YAMNAMPET, GHATKESAR MANDAL, R.R DISTRICT
HYDERABAD - 501301
2019-2021
1
2
ABSTRACT
Hyderabad city is a large metropolitan city in India which has a high level of population and
i the traffic and transportation problems are rising over the past several years. As the existing
i transportation modes – buses and trains – are already saturated, there is a need for developing
i Mass Rapid Transit Systems (MRTS). Recognising this, the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project
i (HMRP) was planned to be developed as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model in India. The
HMRL project suffered from several challenges and yet it is on the verge of completion in
i terms of technical execution.. This paper discusses the salient service quality of the HMRP
i towards addressing traffic and transportation of the Hyderabad city. The service quality
i analysis covers the details of metro rail route alignment, horizontal, vertical and cross-
sectional details of structure, design of the project structures, construction methods and
i processes, operational arrangements etc. These features make the HMRL as perhaps one fo the
i well designed and developed project that has been executed with perfection.
Hyderabad iMetro iRail ilike iother iservice iorganizations iare irealizing ithe iimportance iof
i customer-centered attitudes and are constantly focusing on quality management approaches in
i order to manage their services properly. Practically a less prominence has been given towards
i the satisfaction of passengers. In order to accomplish the organization success, proper service
i quality need to be highlighted to satisfy the passengers. The key purpose of the study is to
i empirically determine the service quality gap in Hyderabad Metro Rail, based on the SERVQUAL
scale.
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CONTENT
Sl. No. Contents Page No.
ABSTRACT ............................................................................. v
1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................. 1-22
1.1 Introduction to the topic ....................................................... 2
1.2 Company Profile ................................................................ 13
2. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................ 23-29 3.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................... 30-33
3.1 Need for the study .............................................................. 31
3.2 Objectives of the study ....................................................... 31
3.3 Hypothesis ......................................................................... 31
3.4 Scope of the study .............................................................. 31
3.5 Research Design ................................................................ 32
3.6 Limitation of the study ....................................................... 33
4. DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION .................. 34-44 5.
FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS & CONCLUSION ......... 63-66
5.1 Findings ............................................................................. 64
5.2 Conclusion ......................................................................... 66
5.3 Suggestions ........................................................................ 68
6. ANNEXURE ..................................................................... 69-74
Questionnaire .......................................................................... 70
Bibliography/References ......................................................... 72
iii
CHAPTER 1 NTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC
Many imodern imetro irail itransit ilines iutilize ielevated istructures ias ithey irepresent
i sometimes the only possibility in built- up urban areas. Billions of man hours are lost with
i people ‘stuck in Traffic’. The reasons are well known: exponential growth of motor
i vehicles with negligible increase in road space. This fact is also echoed in Govt.’s
i National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP). Public transport plays a major role in catering
i to the commuter traffic in Indian cities.
The rail based mass rapid transport system which is believed to be the best solution, is
i already operational in Metropolitan cities like Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and performing
i well to the satisfaction of local commuters. Following the success the new metro projects
i are either being constructed or are in the advanced stage of implementation in a few cities: Kochi,
Chennai, Hyde rabad, Jaipur and Pune. Hyderabad is one of the largest cities of
i Andhra Pradesh State. Hyderabad has grown manifolds over the last two decades in terms
i of area, population and habitation.
In order to cope with ever increasing traffic and growing travel demand a Mass Rapid
i Transport System (MRTS) that involves a 72 km elevated metro project was proposed for
i Hyderabad city. The metro rail project is under development stage on three high traffic
i density corridors, the route details are explained in the subsequent article. The metro will
i have 62 stations and the project apparently won several international awards for unique
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i project development concept.
Various Formats of Metro
In fact, the underground, elevated and surface rail systems are three different mobility
i options, with vastly different costs and impacts. Therefore, they must be treated as three
i distinct options, and an objective framework must be developed to decide which of the
i systems would be suitable under what conditions, given the impact of such systems on
i urban fabric and form. Elevated metro systems are not viable solutions for areas that are
i already dense and built-up.
While direct and tangible costs of an elevated option may be lower, the underground
i option is more cost-effective from a total cost and full life cycle perspective. It is also said
i that the elevated metro stations reduce the motorable width of roads to over 30%. This
i will deteriorate traffic and result in congestion on the roads. The massive structure of
i elevated metro shall change the skyline as it will be enforced over crowded arterial routes
i with virtually no open space.
The impact will be the worst in terms of quality of life for several generations to follow. The
present day costs of the elevated and underground metro system are Rs. 234 cr. per
i km. and Rs. 614 cr. per km. respectively. On the other hand, though it is huge, the
i investment in the underground metro could result in the reduction on road user cost. The
i citizens of the city will gain substantially with the introduction of the underground metro
i service as it saves travel time due to reduction of congestion on the roads and lower travel
i time of the Metro.
There will be health and other environmental benefits to the public due to reduced
i pollution from the transport sector of any Metro system. However, when there is no land
i available (as in case of surface metro) and/or there are too many unknown underground
i utility lines criss-crossing, the elevated metro is considered to be a good choice of metro
i systems in the cities. This is the situation of Hyderabad city, which has huge shortage of
i land and large unknown underground utility systems.
2
Metro Rail Alignment and Project Phases
The following figure shows the route alignment map of Hyderabad Metro.
The Phase I of the project includes 3 lines covering a distance of around 71 km. The metro
i rail stretches between Nagole and Secuderabad 11 km is targeted to be operational by
i December 2015. The entire 72 km 66-station first phase is due to be completed by
i December 2017.
• Miyapur – L B Nagar - 29.87 km
• Nagole - Shilparamam - 26.51 km
• JBS – Falaknuma - 14.78 km
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The Government sanctioned second phase of metro rail extending further 85 km. The
i proposed routes are as following:
• Miyapur - BHEL - Patanchervuu 15 km.
• Faluknama - Shamshabad Airport 12 km.
• LB Nagar - Vanasthalipuram 4 km.
• ECIL - Tarnaka 7 km.
• Nagole - LB Nagar - Faluknama 15 km.
• JNTU - Shilparamam - Gacchibowli 14 km.
• JBS - Alwal 8 km.
• Gachibowli - ToliChowk - Lakdikapul 17 km
Service Quality
Service quality is a term which describes a comparison of expectations with performance.
"Service quality is a focused evaluation that reflects the customer's perception of specific
i dimensions of service: reliability, responsiveness, assurance, Empathy, tangibles. Satisfaction,
on other hand, is more inclusive: it is influenced by perceptions of service
i quality, product quality, and price as well as situational factors and personal factors. Service
quality affects customer satisfaction by providing performance (real benefits). For
i example, if consumers believe they have entered the McDonald's restaurant, they will get
i food, service, high quality everywhere the same, no matter the location of the restaurant.
"The icreation iof icustomer isatisfaction ican iprovide iseveral ibenefits, iincluding ithe
i relationship between companies and consumers are harmonious, providing a good basis
i for the purchase and re-creation of customer loyalty, and form a recommendation by word
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i of mouth that can benefit the company.
Dimensions of Service Quality
• Reliability-Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately
• Responsiveness-Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service
• Assurance-Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and
confidence
• Empathy-Caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers
• Tangibles-Appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and

communication material
Reliability:
This dimension is shown to have the highest influence on the customer perception of
i quality. It is the ability to perform the promised service dependently and accurately. Sahara
Airlines, an upcoming domestic air carrier within India, has been striving to
i protect itself as a reliable airline. It hopes to differentiate itself from other airlines Indian
i Airlines. To protect this reliability, Sahara Airways has a scheme of full refund plus a
i coupon of Rs3,000 to every passenger on delay of flights by more than 59 minutes.
When service delivery fails the first time, a service provider may get a second chance to
i provide the same service in the phase called ‘Recovery’. The expectations of the customer
i are usually higher during the recovery phase than before because of the initial failure. Thus, the
service provider is likely to come under greater scrutiny, thereby increasing the
i possibility of customer dissatisfaction. The reliability dimension, which ensures timely
i delivery time after time, helps the service provider to meet the customer expectations fully
i at the lowest level of service expectation.
5
Responsiveness :
It is the willingness of the service firm’s staff to help customers and to provide them with
i prompt service. The customers may have queries, special requests, complaints, etc. In
i fact, each customer may have problems of his or her own. While the front-end employee
i may have been trained or equipped to deliver standardized services, the customers want
i them to go beyond this limit. It is the willingness to help the customer or willingness to go
i that extra distance that is responsiveness. Example: A customer calls room service to find
i out if they would pack a Jain lunch. It is not the hotel’s normal policy to cook such
i specialty and customized meals. However, the customer being very religious minded
i would be very pleased if the hotel could pack it for him to carry and eat. This may impose
i some strain on the kitchen. However, the hotel may be rewarded in two different ways if it
i agreed to provide the meal. The customer would be very pleased with the service and is
i very likely to recommend the hotel to his friends and acquaintances. In addition, the hotel
i could charge extra commensurate with the extra efforts. He is unlikely to mind paying
i more. The second aspect of responsiveness is speedy response to a customer request. When
response is delayed customers usually loses interest. Many sales representatives
i respond on the phone, ‘I will call you back’. The call is never returned. The customer
i draws his or her own conclusion about the quality of service he is likely to receive in the future.
Assurance :
It defined as the ability of the company to inspire trust and confidence in the service
i delivery. It refers to knowledge and courtesy of the service firm’s employees and their
i ability ito iinspire itrust iand iconfidence iin ithe icustomer itoward ithe icompany. iThis
i dimension is considered vital for services that involve high risk as customers may not be
i able to evaluate all the uncertainties involved in the process by them. Example: Medical
i services requiring complex uncommon procedures, sales / purchase of financial securities,
i investment issues, legal affairs, etc. demand this service quality dimension. There are
i property developers/builders who provide a list of previous buyers of flats or apartments
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i to ipotential ibuyers. iThe ievaluation iof iconstruction iservices iis ibeyond itechnical
i capabilities of most buyers. However, the prospective customers are free to call the
i previous customers. When prospective customers hear from them about the company and its
satisfactory delivery, they feel assured and develop a more positive attitude towards the
company.
Empathy :
It refers to the caring, individualized attention the service firm provides each customer. When
service provider puts himself in the shoes of the customers, he may see the
i customer’s viewpoint better. When customers feel that the provider is making his best
i effort to see their viewpoint, it may be good enough for most. Example: a lady customer
i with a young child arrives slightly late at the check-in counter and requests the agent for a
i seat along the aisle and near the toilet. Even if all such seats have already been taken up,
i the agent and the airline may make even effort to request another passenger to exchange
i seats and meet the customer demand. The lady passenger would be delighted if her request
i could be honored despite the last minute checking in, and even if she does not get such a
i seat, she would be grateful for their effort.
Tangibles :
It refers to physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of a service firm’s employees. The job
of the tangible and physical evidence of a service is multifunctional. When a
i patient in the waiting room of a clinic sees the doctor’s certificate, he becomes aware of
i the quality of service he is about to receive. If a dental clinic provides patients with clean
i rubber footwear and freshly laundered bibs or coats before the actual service, the patients
i and their accompanying relatives or friends will be impressed. A dentist dressed in a
i spotless white coat is likely to impress, them even further. Tangibles provide the customer
i proof of the quality of service.
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Gap Model
The five gaps that organizations should measure, manage and minimize:
• Gap 1 is the distance between what customers expect and what managers think
i they expect - Clearly survey research is a key way to narrow this gap.
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• Gap 2 is between management perception and the actual specification of the
i customer experience - Managers need to make sure the organization is defining the
i level of service they believe is needed.
• Gap 3 is from the experience specification to the delivery of the experience -
i Managers need to audit the customer experience that their organization currently
i delivers in order to make sure it lives up to the spec.
• Gap 4 is the gap between the delivery of the customer experience and what is
i communicated to customers - All too often organizations exaggerate what will be
i provided to customers, or discuss the best case rather than the likely case, raising
i customer expectations and harming customer perceptions.
• Finally, Gap 5 is the gap between a customer's perception of the experience and the
i customer's expectation of the service - Customers' expectations have been shaped
i by word of mouth, their personal needs and their own past experiences. Routine
i transactional surveys after delivering the customer experience are important for an
i organization to measure customer perceptions of service.
Service Quality in Metro Rails
In the days of intense competition, the metro rails are no different from any other
i consumer marketing company. It has become essential for the service firms in general and
i metro rails in particular to identify what the customer's requirements are and how those
i customer requirements can be met effectively. In the days where product and price
i differences are blurred, superior service by the service provider is the only differentiator
i left before the metro rails to attract, retain and partner with the customers. Superior
i service quality enables a firm to differentiate itself from its competition, gain a sustainable
i competitive advantage, and enhance efficiency (Mei et al. 1999; Kandampully and
i Suhartanto 2000; Gounaris et al. 2003). The benefits of service quality include increased
i customer satisfaction, improved customer retention, positive word of mouth, reduced staff
i turnover, decreased operating costs, enlarged market share, increased profitability, and
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i improved i financial iperformance i(Rust iand iZahorik i1993; iCronin iet ial. i2000;
i Kandampully iand iSuhartanto i2000; iDuncan iand iElliott i2002; iJanda iet ial. i2002;
i Sureshchandar et al. 2002; Gounaris et al. 2003; Kang and James 2004; Yoon and Suh
i 2004). The construct of service quality has therefore been a subject of great interest to
i service marketing researchers.
Railway iservices iworldwide ican ibroadly iclassified iinto iinvestment irailway iand
i commercial railway is primarily concerned with helping corporate bodies raise funds at
i the best possible rates from various markets. Commercial railway is concerned with
i channelling savings to productive uses. Railway in an intermediary function but one that
i is very essential for sustained economic growth. In India, since the nationalization of
i metro rails in 1969, railway has been primarily in the Central Government’s domain. As
i part of the Government’s liberalization policy which began in 1991, New Private Sector
i Metro rails were allowed to be set up.
Measuring Quality in the Services Sector and in particular in the Railway sector, is more
i difficult than measuring the quality of manufactured goods. This is mainly due to the following:
• The i Services i Sector ias i a i whole iis ivery iheterogeneous

iand iwhat iis ivery
i heterogeneous and what may hold true for one service may not hold true for
i another service sector. For example, the nature of railway services is very different
i from, say ,the nature of services provided by an airline or a hotel. Even within
i railway there are a variety of dissimilar services like metro railway, commercial
i railway, investment railway etc. This heterogeneity makes standardized service
i quality measurement very difficult. Most manufacturing companies, on the other
i hand, have been able to adopt standard measures to improve the quality of goods
i produced.
• Services are intangible in nature and, unlike in the case of goods, there is no ‘real’
i product that the customer takes home. This is true of railway services and most
i other financial services where the service offered is only what the customer
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i experiences fleetingly. Some service sectors like the hotel industry, the tourism
i indistry,etc. provide services that may be considered somewhat more tangible.
• There is no scope for inspection before the service delivered. All services have a
i here-and-now iattribute ithat imakes istandardised iquality itesting iand icontrol
procedures followed by manufacturing sector difficult to adopt. Unlike a good
i
manufacturer, ia irail icannot iinspect iits iservices and iproducts
ito iweed iout
i unsatisfactory ones before they are presented to the customer.
• Unlike in the case of manufacturing companies where the goods are manufactured
i and then sold to customers, in the services sector, the customer is a part and parcel
i of ithe iprocess ithat iprovides ithe iservice. iThe iservice iis icreated iwith ithe
i involvement of the customer , if there is no customer there can be no service. In
i this sense, the customers is inseparable from the service. This is especially true of
i railway services, both retail and corporate. Customers are central to the railway
i service that is sought to be provided.
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1.2 COMPANY PROFILE
The iHyderabad iMetro iis ia irapid itransit isystem, iserving ithe icity iof iHyderabad,
i Telangana, iIndia. It is the second longest operational metro network in India after the
i Delhi iMetro i(285 stations) with 57 stations and the lines are arranged in a isecant i model. It
i is funded by a ipublic–private ipartnership i(PPP), with the state government holding a
i minority equity stake. A special purpose vehicle company, L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad
i Ltd (L&TMRHL), was established by the construction company iL&T ito develop the
i Hyderabad metro rail project. A 30-kilometre (19 mi) stretch from i Miyapur ito Nagole,
i with 24 stations, was inaugurated on 28 November 2017 by Prime Minister iNarendra
i Modi. This was the longest rapid transit metro line opened in one go in India. It is
i estimated to cost ₹ 18,800 crore (US$2.6 billion). As of February 2020, about 490,000
i people use the Metro per day. Trains are crowded during the morning and evening rush
i hours. A ladies only coach was introduced on all the trains from 7 May 2018.
History
Metro Rail Project was first initiated by iN. iChandrababu iNaidu, then-Chief Minister of
i United i Andhra iPradesh istate, in 2003. As Hyderabad continued to grow, the MMTS had
i insufficient capacity for public transport, and the iUnion iMinistry iof iUrban iDevelopment
i approved construction of the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project, directing the iDelhi iMetro
i Rail iCorporation ito conduct a survey of the proposed lines and to submit a Detailed
12
i Project Report (DPR). To meet rising public transport needs and mitigate growing road traffic
in the twin cities of iHyderabad iand iSecunderabad, the State Government of N. Chandrababu
Naidu and the iSouth iCentral i Railway ijointly launched the iMulti-Modal
i Transport iSystem i (MMTS) in August 2003. The initial plan was for the Metro to connect
i with the existing MMTS to provide commuters with alternate modes of transport.
Simultaneously, the proposals for taking up the construction of iMMTS iPhase iII iwere also
taken forward.
In 2007, N.V.S Reddy was appointed Managing Director of Hyderabad Metro Rail
i Limited, and the same year, Central Government approved financial assistance of ₹ 1639
i crore under a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme. The option of an underground metro
i system in Hyderabad was ruled out by L&T due to the presence of hard rocks, boulders
i and ithe itopography iof ithe isoil iin iHyderabad. iOn i26 iMarch i2018, ithe iTelangana
i government announced that it would set up an SPV "Hyderabad Airport Metro Limited
i (HAML)", jointly promoted by HMRL and HMDA, to extend the Blue line from i Raidurg
i to iRajiv i Gandhi iInternational i Airport, iShamshabad, under Phase II after the completion of
i Phase I in 2019.
Initial bidding
The bidding process was completed by July 2008 and awarded to iMaytas, which failed to
i achieve financial closure for the project as per schedule by March 2009.
Re-bidding
The iNallari iKiran iKumar iReddy i government cancelled the contract and called for a fresh
i rebidding for the project. In the July 2010 rebidding process, iLarsen i& iToubro i(L&T)
i emerged as the lowest bidder for the ₹ 121.32 billion (US$1.7 billion) project. L&T came
i forward to take up the work for about ₹ 14.58 billion (US$200 million) as viability gap
i funding as against the sanctioned ₹ 48.53 billion (US$680 million). Kiran's government
i proactively pursued the project, but it was delayed due to separate state agitation and later
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i due to the apprehensions of the new government.
Mascot
The mascot of Hyderabad Metro Rail is Niz. It was derived from the word iNizam, who ruled the
i princely istate iof iHyderabad.
Awards and nominations
The HMR project was showcased as one of the top 100 strategic global infrastructure
i projects at the Global Infrastructure Leadership Forum held in New York during February–
March 2013.
L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited (LTMRHL) was conferred the SAP ACE Award
i 2015 in the 'Strategic HR and Talent Management' category.
In 2018 the Rasoolpura, Paradise and Prakash Nagar Metro stations were awarded the
i Indian Green Building Council's (IGBC) Green MRTS Platinum Award.
Hyderabad iMetro iwas iadjudged ias ithe iBest iUrban iMass iTransit iProject iby ithe
i Government of India in November 2018.
Construction milestones
• Groundbreaking i(Bhoomi Puja) for the project was conducted on 26 April 2012
i the concessionaire started the pillar erection on the same day for Stage-I and on 6
i June 2012 for Stage-II. The work for Corridor 2 has been delayed due to traders in
i Koti iand iSultan i Bazar idemanding realignment of the route to safeguard traders
i and old age heritage markets. If the recent bill proposed in Parliament which
i allows construction within a 100-metre radius of heritage structures and sites of
i historical or archaeological importance is passed, Metro might receive a chance as
i it helps to connect the Old city with IT corridor.
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• The construction of the entire 71.16 km has been split into 6 stages with the first
i stage originally scheduled to be completed by March 2015.
• In November 2013, L&T Hyderabad Metro started laying of rails on the metro
i viaduct between Nagole and Mettuguda, a stretch of 8 km.
• The first highly sophisticated train of the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) came from
i Korea during the third week of May 2014. Stringent trial runs commenced from
i June 2014 till February 2015. The trial runs started on the Miyapur to Sanjeeva
i Reddy Nagar stretch in October 2015.
• CMRS inspection for Stage-II (Miyapur and S.R.Nagar Section) was done on 9, 10
i August 2016.
• The steel bridge of the HMR was successfully placed over the Oliphant bridge in
i August 2017.
• In November 2017, Commissioner of Railway Safety (CMRS) granted safety

i approval for 12 km stretch from Miyapur to SR Nagar, 10 km stretch from SR
i Nagar to Mettuguda and 8 km stretch from Nagole to Mettuguda.
• 16-km iAmeerpet i- iLB iNagar iMetro stretch was opened for commercial operations
i from 24 September 2018.
• The iAmeerpet i- iHITEC iCity iroute was opened on conditional basis on 20 March
i 2019. The reversal facility after iHITEC iCity i metro istation iwas started on 20
i August 2019.
• On 19 May 2019, the construction of all the 2,599 pillars for the 66-km Hyderabad
i Metro rail (except the 6-km stretch in iold icity) was completed.
• The Green Line Corridor from Jubilee Bus Station to iMahatma iGandhi ibus istation
i was issued the Safety Certificate by the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety and
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i inauguration of services on the section was done on 7 February 2020 by Hon'ble iChief
i Minister iof iTelangana, Sri iK. iChandrasekhar iRao.
Network
Currently, the Hyderabad Metro has 56 stations. Phase I of the Hyderabad metro has 64
i stations; they have escalators and elevators to reach the stations, announcement boards
i and electronic display systems. The stations also have service roads underneath them to
i for iother ipublic itransportation isystems ito idrop-off iand ipick- up ipassengers. iThe
i signboards of Hyderabad Metro are displayed in Telugu, English, Hindi and Urdu at metro
stations.
Otis iElevator iCompany isupplied and maintains the 670 elevators in use on the system.
In May 2018, L&T Metro Rail signed a contract with iPowergrid iCorporation iof iIndia ito
i install electric vehicle charging facilities at all metro stations beginning with Miyapur and
i Dr. B R Ambedkar Balanagar stations. L&THMRL has setup free wifi access units for
i commuters at iMiyapur, iAmeerpet iand Nagole metro stations, in association with ACT
i Fibernet, as part of a pilot project. Metro Rail Phase II expansion plan is for about 85 km. In April
2019, iK. iT. iRama iRao isaid that 200 kilometres (120 mi) of metro rail was
i planned for Hyderabad, with metro along entire iOuter iRing iRoad. All metro corridors are
i scheduled to terminate at Shamshabad, near i Rajiv i Gandhi iInternational i Airport, as
i planned in Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase-II. In August 2019, KT Rama Rao said that state
i cabinet has approved the Hyderabad Metro Airport Express Link from Raidurg to the airport.
Curre nt status
Construction phases
The construction work was undertaken in two phases. There are six stages of completion
i in Phase I.
Phase I
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Phase I of the project includes 3 lines covering a distance of around 72 kilometres (45 mi). The
metro rail line between Nagole and Secunderabad was originally scheduled open by
December 2015; it was partly opened on 29 November 2017 with a new completion date of
i
December 2019. A 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi)-long green line in the iold icity iwill pass
i through iDar- ul-Shifa, Purani Haweli, Eitebar Chowk, Volta Hotel, Sultan Shahi, Syed Ali
i Chabutra, iShamsheer iGunj, iMoghalpura, iHari iBowli, iShah-Ali- Banda iand iends iat
i Falaknuma.[68][69] iThis stretch is scheduled to be completed by 2022.
• Line 1 - Red Line - Miyapur–LB Nagar - 29 km (18 mi) 27 stations
• Line 2 - Green Line - JBS–Falaknuma 15 km (9.3 mi) 15 stations
• Line 3 - Blue Line - Nagole–Raidurg i- 28 km (17 mi) 24 stations
Construction schedule
Stage Target section Distance Line Line Status Opened

colour
Stage Nagole– 16.8 i km Line Blue Operational 29

i 1 Ameerpet i (10.4 mi) i III November
i
2017
Stage Miyapur– 11.3 i km Line Red Operational 29

i 1 Ameerpet i (7.0 mi) i I November
i
2017
17
Stage Ameerpet–L. iB. 16.8 ikm Line Red Operational 24
iNagar
i 2 i(10.4 mi) iI September
i
2018
Stage Ameerpet– 8.5 km (5.3 Line Blue Operational 20 i March

3/1 mi)
HITEC iCity i III i 2019
Stage HITEC i City– 1.5 i km Line Blue Operational 29

3/2
Raidurg i (0.93 mi) i III November
i
2019
Stage JBS–MGBS 11 km (6.8 Line Green Operational 7 i February

4/1 mi)
i II i 2020
Stage MGBS– 5.2 km (3.2 Line Green Yet ito N/A

4/2 mi) istart
Falaknuma i II
construction
Total 72 km (45
mi)
Note: Stage 4/2 MGBS–Falaknuma section (5.36 km) is also part of the initial phase I, but
i has been rumored that the state government might take up this section instead of L&T, but
i will be completed along with the phase I work. The Stage 3/2 iHITEC iCity–Raidurg
i section (1.3 km) of Corridor III was not initial part of phase I, it was later on added by the
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i newly elected state government. This section is opened on 29 November 2019.
Phase II
The iGovernment iis iplanning isecond iphase iof imetro irail iextending ifurther. iThe
i construction of Phase II will be taken up solely by the state government, instead of ipublic–
private ipartnership i(PPP) mode in Phase I. iDelhi iMetro iRail iCorporation i(DMRC) was
i entrusted to give a detailed project report (DPR) for Phase II. Metro Rail Phase II
i expansion plan is for about 62 km, which includes providing link to iShamshabad iRGI
i Airport. In February 2020, Hyderabad Metro MD NVS Reddy said that three corridors
i are considered for phase 2. The DPR has been submitted to state government. The
i proposed routes are as following:
Target section Distance (in Line Line Status

km) colour
Raidurg–Gachibowli– 31 i km i(19 Line IV TBA DPR

Shamshabad iRGI iAirport i mi) i submitted
Nagole–LB iNagar 5 i km i(3.1 Line i III Blue DPR

i mi) i extension i submitted
Lakdi ika ipul–BHEL 20 i km i(12 Line V TBA DPR

i mi) i submitted
Hyde rabad Airport Metro Express
In August 2019, TRS Working President, Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban
19
i Development, Industries and IT&C iK. iT. iRama iRao isaid that the work on Hyderabad
i Metro Airport Express from Raheja Mindspace to iShamshabad i RGI iAirport iwill start
i soon. The 31 km- long Hyderabad Metro Airport Express link will cost around ₹ ₹ 5000
i crore. The 31-km Airport Express Metro Corridor is proposed to have 27-km elevated, 1
i km on ground and a 2.5-km underground section to connect to the airport terminal. The
i airport route will have 9 elevated stations and one underground station.
Reception
The Metro has opened to overwhelming response, with over 200,000 people using it on
i Day 1. On the first Sunday of operations, the Metro was used by 240,000 people. As of
i October 2019, the daily ridership is about 400,000. Although there was hiccups in the
i beginning of operations in 2017 with meager ridership of less than 100,000 per day,
i opening the new lines to LB Nagar and Hi-Tech city in 2018–19, ridership has surged and
i reached milestones from 2 to 4 lakhs in very short duration.
Trains are initially being operated at a frequency of 3 minutes in very peak hours and
i every 5 minutes in peak hours (between iMiyapur-LB iNagar) and 4 minutes in peak hours
i (between Hi-Tec City/ Ameerpet-Nagole), though maximum achievable frequency is
i every 90 seconds. Similarly, three-car trains are being used currently, though it is planned
i to use six-car trains in the future.
In December 2017, Hyderabad Metro Rail launched its mobile app, TSavaari. Hyderabad
i Metro timings are available on T-Savari app. iOla iCabs iand iUber itied up its services with app.
Hyderabad Metro Rail crossed 100 million cumulative ridership milestone in just 671 days.
Cost
The initial official estimated cost of the 72 km long Metro project stood at ₹ 14,132 crore
i (US$2.0 billion). The State Government decided to bear 10% of it, while L&T was to bear
i the remaining 90% of the cost. The construction work which was supposed to commence
i on 3 March 2011 commenced in 2012. In March 2012, the cost of the project was revised
20
i upwards to ₹ 15,957 crore (US$2.2 billion). This has been further revised upwards to
i ₹ 18,800 crore (US$2.6 billion) (as of November 2017).
Infrastructure
The 71.3 km standard-gauge network will feature ballastless track throughout and will be
i electrified at 25 kV AC 50 Hz. An operations control centre and depot are constructed at
i Uppal. At some places, a flyover, underpass and metro has been constructed at the same
i place, as part of Strategic road development plan (SRDP). L&TMRHL built real- estate
i projects ilike iNext iGalleria imalls iin iPanjagutta, iIrrum iManzil, iHitech iCity iand
i Musarambagh with skywalks, for generating non- fare revenues under Transit Oriented
i Development (TOD). In 2019, Hyderabad Metro started a semi- naming policy of metro
i stations, awarded through an open e-tendering process, to generate non-fare revenues.
CBTC Technology
At the end of 2012, L&T Metro Rail awarded Thales a Rs 7.4bn ($US 134m) contract to
i provide CBTC and integrated telecommunications and supervision systems on all three
i lines. iThales iGroup isupplied its SelTrac iCommunications-based itrain icontrol i(CBTC)
i technology, and trains initially run in automatic train operation mode with minimum
i headways i of i 90 i seconds, i although i the i system iwill i support
i eventual i migration i to unattended train operation (UTO).
Rolling stock
On 12 September 2012, Larsen and Toubro Metro Rail Hyderabad Ltd (LTMRHL)
i announced that it has awarded tender for supply of rolling stock to iHyundai iRotem. The
i ₹ 18 billion (US$250 million) tender is for 57 trains consisting of 171 cars which will be
i delivered in phases at least 9 months before the commencement of each stage. On 2
i October 2013, LTMRHL unveiled its train car for Hyderabad Metro. A model coach
i which is half the size of the actual coach, was on public display at Necklace Road on the
i banks of Hussain Sagar in the heart of Hyderabad. The trains will be 3.2m wide and 4m
21
i high. There will be 4 doors on each side of each coach.
On 10 April 2014, the first metro train for HMR rolled out of iHyundai i Rotem i factory at
i Changwon i in iSouth iKorea iand reached Hyderabad in May 2014. On 31 December 2014,
i Hyderabad iMetro iRail isuccessfully iconducted ia itraining irun iin iAutomatic iTrain
i Operation (ATO) mode for the first time between Nagole and Mettuguda.
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE
REVIEW
Shanmugam (1987) study highlighted in general some aspects related to the marketing of
i railway services in Hyderabad and the behavior of passengers and users of goods traffic
i towards rail transport.
Promila Sharma and Harpreet Duggal (1989) concluded that the most of the passengers
i were dissatisfied with the railway service on different namely catering, cleanliness and
22
i enquiry service. Most of the complainants did not use the redressal service provided by
i the Railway department because they did not expect any concrete action from Railways.
Vivekanandhan (1996) study has pointed that the services provided by the Virudhunagar
i Goods shed satisfy its customers.
Nalini Devi (1996) the study revealed that both the categories of employees have regular
i meetings with their subordinates, which is important to improve the performance of the
i subordinates.
Jeganathan (2002) study has found that if season ticket fares are reduced for long
i distance travel, it will be an added attraction to the commuters.
Christoph Wolff (2001), summarized that Indian Railways must separate tangential
i areas, such as manufacturing and catering, from its core business of providing logistics
i service for freight customers and passenger service. India has the world's most vertically
i integrated rail system.
Rama Prasad (2002) found that the more general compartments will be required for short
i distance travelers and it has been found that most of the passengers are not happy
i particularly with the quality of food. Quality of food should be improved and variety of
i items should be introduced.
Makesh (2002) the objectives of the study were to measure the level of job satisfaction of
i employees of Indian Railways and to study the working conditions in the Hyderabad
i Metro Rails.
Sonia iKolesnikov iand iJessop i(2003) ifound ithat iIndia ihas iclimbed iaboard imore
i enthusiastically ithan iany icountry. iThe iDeccan iOdyssey ifeatures icars iresembling ia
i maharajah's ipalace, iRoyal iRajasthan ion iWheels, ioffers ieven imore iluxurious
i accommodations that include a spa, a boardroom carriage and Wi-Fi Internet access.
Arpita Mukherjee and Ruchika Sachdeva (2004) outline an efficient railway system
23
i lowers the cost of transportation, integrates people and markets across the country, links
i backward regions with the mainstream economy by opening them up to trade and
i investment, and thereby increases the overall productivity and global competitiveness of
i the economy.
Asian Business Review (2004), outlined India is considered to be the latest Asian
i economy to reach "tiger" status, is spending billions of dollars with the help of the Asian
i Development Bank to upgrade its infrastructure. - Australian-Swiss locomotives for
i Indian Railways.
Ramesh Nanaji Wasnik (2004) understood that railway authority must take some steps to
i prevent the accidents by acknowledging the safety engineering, training and awareness
i among staff, attentive surveillance, high quality maintenance and strict law enforcement.
Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (2004) (A Government of India Undertaking)

i The interesting and motivational advances in highway and railway crossing technology
i and operations, with over 38000 level crossings and complex nature of road traffic, India
i ranks better than many advanced countries in safety at level crossings with 0.10 accidents
i per million train Kms, surpassing France, USA and Japan etc.
John Gabriel and Suresh Babu (2005) the study revealed that railways are setting up the
i computerized reservation centre’s and have authorized out-agency bookings and hence all
i these facilities reveal the efficiency of reservation services of the railways and the study
i also revealed that the railways is the only organization providing maximum passenger
i reservation services to the travelling public most efficiently and effectively.
Sumathy (2005) study pointed out that South India is noted for the large number of
important Hindu festivals. Not less than 175 festivals are held annually at southern part of India.
i
Special trains were operated during festival time. Temporary waiting halls, latrines
i etc., were provided at Kumbakonam and seventeen other stations on festival occasions. Special
arrangements were made at Kumbakonam in 1933.
24
Vijay Durga Prasad (2005) in this research various amenities provided by Indian
i railways at stations and on board are analyzed. He suggested enhance the quality of fast
i food items sold in the pantry car and at refreshment stalls on platforms, the design of the
i iron shutters of the window should be modified, fire extinguishers must be provided in
i each compartment and coach attendant and TTEs have to be trained to use them, Public
i Address System can be provided in all express trains, the same should be used for playing
i music for entertainment on board
Mathur (2005) in this study men, machines, materials and money are the most important
i factors essential for the development and growth of industries.
Mudit kulsreshtha and Barnali Nag (2005) in this paper they derived that long run
i structural relationships for all the three classes, viz. upper, second and ordinary second
i class, of non-suburban long distance passenger transport demand for Indian Railways
i using annual time series data for 1970-1995. The demand systems are found to be stable
i for all the classes in the long run and they converge to equilibrium in a period.
Chinmoy Kumar (2006) the study revealed that the on- line reservation system was
i launched in August 2002 under the guidance of IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and
i Tourism Corporation). The on-line reservation system was an extension of the from
i schedule time. Passenger reservation system (PRS) and served as an interface between the
i uses and the passenger reservation system. Another innovations of the Indian Railways
i were integrated voice response system (IVRS) unreserved ticketing system, National train
i enquiry system (NTES), tele-booking services and wireless services.
Raja (2007) analyzed an empirical study about consumer image of Indian railways, the
i objectives of this study were to study the general image of the Indian railways and to
i study the specific image of the Indian railways related to the services before travel,
i services during the travel and services after the travel
Vijay Durga Prasad (2007) the study were to analyze the passenger amenities provided
i by Indian railways at stations and on board the train in India in general and in Guntur
25
i division in particular and to analyze opinion of selected sample passengers of Guntur
i railway division on various amenities provided by Indian Railways and also to suggest
i such measures and strategies that would go a long way for improvement of passenger
i amenities in Guntur division in particular and Indian railways in general.
Debabrata Das, Subhash Datta and Sharfuddin (2007) the researcher attempts to
i devise a model to map a few of the most strategic location of Delhi using the available
i modes of public transportation i.e. bus and metro rail, based on distance, time and cost
i constraints. Research found to avoid congestion, best possible alternative route that
i should be taken as metro route at peak hours, and in case of travel cost consideration,
i metro route has higher travelling cost in comparison to bus route. The cost minimization
i can be possible by reducing waiting time and restructuring the travelling cost in case of
i metro rail.
Srivastava, Sharat S Mathur and Thompson SH Teo (2007) this teaching case
i discusses the challenges being faced by the technology managers at Indian railways in the
i current scenario of a resurgent national economy coupled with increasing customer
i expectations. In the face of growing competition from road and low cost airlines, to retain
i its customers, IR (Indian Railways) has responded by changing its business rules. The
i current scenario needs to change the programming logic of PRS (Passenger Reservation
i System) has been making maintenance together for CRIS officials, they have realized that
i PRS is a time tested, proven, and reliable technology and they would be happy to replace
i the old PRS with a new state of art system that would provide them greater maintenance
i flexibility, the repercussions associated with possible failure of the new system are far too
i serious.
Anand K Sharma & Mathe w J Manimala (2007) outline that there were external as
i well as internal causes for the declining performance of Indian Railways. The budgetary
i 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
i
and air was increasing - Sustainability of The Indian Railways Turnaround: A Stage
26
i Theory Perspective
G. Raghuram Rachna Gangwar (2007) states that IR needs to respond to the industry
i specific needs by interacting with them regularly. There is a potential for IR provided high
i capacity wagons, special purpose wagons, bigger train loads, closed circuit rakes and
i round the clock operations are given significant focus based on the customer specific
i requirements.
Karan Kumar (2007-08) summarized Metro City Railway Stations like Delhi, Mumbai
i need to be modernized to provide world – class passenger amenities and services to the
i large multitude of passengers using these stations. IR is planning to do so by attracting
i private investments in the area by allowing the areas around the stations and the air space
i above platform to be commercially developed while operational/passenger.
Madhukar iG. iAngur i(2011), iRegulatory, istructural, iand itechnological ifactors iare
i significantly changing the railways environment throughout the world. It is within this
i rapidly ichanging ienvironment ithat icustomer isatisfaction iand iservice iquality iare
i compelling the attention of all Indian railways. Although the concepts of customer
i satisfaction and service quality are obviously related, the focus of this paper is only on
i service quality. Perceived quality of service tends to play an important role in high
i involvement industries like railways services. Railways have traditionally placed a high
i value on customer relationships with customers. However, the nature of the customer
i relationship is changing, particularly on the retail side of railway.
Cronin and Taylor (1992) in an international setting, and particularly in a developing

i economy, India. The four alternative measures of service quality used by Cronin and
i Taylor (1992) were the SERVQUAL scale, importance weighted SERVQUAL, the
i SERVPERF scale, and importance weighted SERVPERF. The applicability of these four
i alternative measures of service quality is assessed in the context of the railways in India.
Confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL 8 (Jöreskog and Sörbom, 1993) was used to
i test ifor ithe igeneralizability iof ithe ifive-factor iconceptualization iof iservice iquality
27
(Parasuraman et al., 1988). Exploratory factor analysis using the OBLIMIN oblique factor
i
rotation procedure (using SPSS-X) was also conducted on the SERVQUAL and
i SERVPERF items to determine if the service quality concept was multidimensional. Further,
convergent and discriminant validities of the SERVQUAL and SERVPERF
i scales were tested using correlation analysis of the alternative measures used. Stepwise
i regression analysis was used to assess the predictive ability of the alternative measures of
i service i quality. iIn iother iwords, iresponses ito ithe i22 iexpectation iand iperformance
i statements were regressed (in each of the four cases of alternatives measures of service
i quality) with the directly measured “overall service quality”. Finally, the mean performance
(SERVPERF) and performance- minus-expectation (SERVQUAL) gap
i scores for the two banks used in the study were computed to assess their diagnostic value.
Based ion idata igathered ifrom icustomers iof imetro irail, ioverall iresults isupport ia
i multidimensional construct of service quality and suggest that the SERVQUAL scale
i provides greater diagnostic information than the SERVPERF scale. However, the five-
factor conceptualization of SERVQUAL does not seem to be totally applicable, and no
i significant difference was found in the predictive ability of the two measures. Further,
i although SERVQUAL and SERVPERF have identical convergent validity, SERVPERF
i appears to have higher discriminant validity than SERVQUAL.
28
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Need for the study
Rail transport is the means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled
i vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on
i a prepared, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on. Rail is
i usually use for a fuel efficient transport mode, especially in comparison car, buses and
i trucks. It can contestably transport bulk of passenger and goods from one place to another place.
3.2 Objectives of the study

➢ To measure the service quality of Metro Rail in Hyderabad
➢ To study about customer expectation towards service quality of metro rail ➢
To examine quality of services delivered by Hyderabad railways.
➢ To identify the perceived service quality gap among Hyderabad Metro Rail
29
3.3 Hypothesis
Null Hypothesis
Ho: The satisfaction level of customers differs across the Hyderabad Metro Rail.
H1: The satisfaction level of customers does not differ across the Hyderabad Metro Rail.
3.4 Scope of the study
The study was conducted in metro railway stations at Hyderabad city. The study focuses
i on the passengers view towards the various service quality issues.
➢ To study the expected and perceived service quality in Hyderabad Metro
Rail.
➢ To identify the areas for improvements in Hyderabad Metro Rail service

quality.
3.5 Research Design

Meaning of Research:-
Research as “The concepts of symbols for the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct or
i verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice
i of an art.”
The Research Methodology followed for further work can be primarily classified into two
i stages namely Exploratory and Descriptive.
This research work will deeply analyze the hire purchase in financial institutions for doing
i this the researcher would collect both primary and secondary data.
30
Primary Data: The researcher will use the questionnaire method for collecting primary
i data.
Primary data:
• Questionnaire – Structured
• Interview
Secondary data collection
The relevant data that would be collected through secondary research will be collected from:
• Websites through internet
• i Published articles in the newspapers, magazines, journals, and

• i Books.
Tool Used:
• Bar diagram, Pie chart.
Sampling method:
• Random Sampling chosen by the gathering of data
Sample size:
• 100
Target audience:
• Metro Rail Passenger
3.6 Limitation of the study

Some of these limitations can be overcome whole some can be overlooked for a smooth
i conduction of research. Some of those restrictions that some on my way during the research are:
31
 Due to time limitation, it was not possible to cover all areas of study.
 Scope of the study is limited, so it can not be said that it is true representation of company.
 On the basis of this data analysis, we can not assume the final situation of the market.
 Sample size of 100 respondents is not enough to collect accurate information.
 The research is based on the responses given by the respondents, which may or may
i not be biased.
CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS
&
INTERPRETATION
Gende r
Gender No. of Respondents Percentage
Male 55 55%
32
Female 45 45%
Total 100 100%
Inte rpretation:
55% respondents were male however 45% respondents were female
Age
Age Group No. of Respondents Percentage
Below 25 Years 25 25%
26-40 Years 54 54%
Above 40 Years 21 21%
33
Total 100 100%
Inte rpretation:
25% respondents were from Below 25 years age group however 54% respondents were
i from 26-40 years age group
Occupation
Occupation No. of Respondents Percentage
Student 62 62%
Job 24 24%
34
Business 14 14%
Total 100 100%
Inte rpretation:
From the table and graph above it can be seen that 
62% respondents are Student.
 24% respondents are Employed.
 14% respondents are Businessmen.
Location
Location No. of Respondents Percentage
Hyderabad 96 96%
35
Out of Hyderabad 4 4%
Total 100 100%
Inte rpretation:
96% respondents live in Hyderabad however 4% respondents were Out of Hyderabad Did you
traveling experience with HMRL?
Traveling Experience No. of Respondents Percentage
Yes 65 65%
No 35 35%
Total 100 100%
36
Inte rpretation:
65% respondents were male however 35% respondents were female
Frequency of Travelling:
Frequency of No. of Respondents Percentage

Travelling
Never 2 2%
Daily 53 53%
Weekly 31 31%
Monthly 14 14%
37
Total 100 100%
Inte rpretation:
53% respondents were Daily travelling however 14% respondents were Monthly with the
i above statement
Q1. Professional appearance of staff
Respondent No. of Respondents Percentage
Strongly Agree 32 32%
Agree 46 46%
Neutral 6 6%
38
Disagree 9 9%
Strongly Disagree 7 7%
Total 100 100%
Inte rpretation:
32% respondents were strongly agreed however 9% respondents were disagreed with the above
statement
Q2. Physical comfort level of customers
Agree 39 39%
39
Neutral 13 13%
Disagree 18 18%
Total 100 100%
Inte rpretation:
statement
Q3. Accessible and visual display of materials
40
Agree 33 33%
Neutral 19 19%
Disagree 17 17%
Total 100 100%
Inte rpretation:
statement
Q4. Modern looking equipment
41
Agree 38 38%
Neutral 16 16%
Disagree 20 20%
Total 100 100%
Inte rpretation:
statement
Q5. Rails are accurate in record keeping
42
Agree 40 40%
Neutral 9 9%
Disagree 11 11%
Total 100 100%
Inte rpretation:
43
statement
Q6. Rails are accurate in train timings
Agree 42 42%
Neutral 9 9%
Disagree 13 13%
Total 100 100%
44
Inte rpretation:
statement
45
Q7. Adhere to punctuality of trains
i of iRespondents Percentage
Respondent No.
30
Strongly Agree
30%
Agree 38 38%
Neutral 14 14%
Disagree 11 11%
Total 100 100%
46
i respondents iwere istrongly iagreed ihowever i respondents iwere idisagreed i with ithe
i above istatement
47
Inte rpretation:
30% respondents were
strongly agreed however 11% respondents were disagreed with the above statement
Q8. Staff shows interest in solving problems
Respondent No. of 33
Strongly Agree
33%
Agree 41 41%
Neutral 11 11%
Disagree 10 10%
Total 100 100%
i above istatement
48
i above istatement
49
Inte rpretation:
Q9. Perform service correctly
Respondent No.
35
Strongly Agree
35%
Agree 42 42%
Neutral 11 11%
Disagree 8 8%
Total 100 100%
i above istatement
50
i above istatement
51
Inte rpretation:
35% i 8%
i above istatement
52
i Staff
Q10. i is always willing to help customers
i Respondents Percentage
Strongly Agree
59%
Agree 18 18%
Neutral 17 17%
Disagree 2 2%
Total 100 100%
i above istatement
53
i above istatement
54
Inte rpretation:
59% i 2%
Q11. Never too busy to respond
Respondent No.
31
Strongly Agree
31%
Agree 40 40%
Neutral 13 13%
Disagree 9 9%
Total 100 100%
i above istatement
55
i above istatement
56
Inte rpretation:
31% i 9%
Q12. i tells exactly when services will be performed
Respondent No. of Respondents
Strongly Agree 30
30%
Agree 38 38%
Neutral 14 14%
Disagree 11 11%
Total 100 100%
i above istatement
57
i above istatement
58
Inte rpretation:
i above istatement
59
Percentage
Q13. Treat public situation with care and seriousness
Strongly Agree 30
30%
Agree 47 47%
Neutral 7 7%
Disagree 10 10%
Total 100 100%
60
i Staff iis
No. iof iRespondents Percentage
Inte rpretation:
i above istatement
61
i Staff iis
Inte rpretation: No. iof iRespondents Percentage
30% respondents were strongly agreed however 10% respondents were disagreed with the
above statement
Q14. i trustworthy
Agree 42 42%
Neutral 8 8%
Disagree 12 12%
Total 100 100%
Inte rpretation:
i above istatement
62
i Staff iis
Inte rpretation:
i above istatement
63
i Staff iis
32% i 12%
Q15. i courteous
Respondent
Strongly Agree
34 34%
Agree 40 40%
Somewhat Agree 12 12%
Disagree 12 12%
Total 100 100%
Inte rpretation:
i above istatement
64
i Staff iis
Inte rpretation:
i above istatement
65
i Staff iis
34% i 12%
Inte rpretation:
i above istatement
66
i Staff iis
Q16. i knowledgeable
Respondent
Strongly Agree
25 25%
Agree 48 48%
Somewhat Agree 13 13%
Disagree 10 10%
Total 100 100%
Inte rpretation:
i above istatement
67
Inte rpretation:
i respondents iwere istrongly iagreed ihowever

i above istatement
68
24% i 10%
Q17. Commuters feel No. iof iRespondents Percentage safe in
travel
Respondent
Strongly Agree
32 32%
Agree 46 46%
Neutral 6 6%
Disagree 9 9%
Total 100 100%
Inte rpretation:

i above istatement
69
Inte rpretation:

i above istatement
70
32% i 9% respondents were disagreed with the

Q18. Railways give individual attention
Strongly Agree
27%
Agree 39 39%
Neutral 13 13%
Disagree 18 18%
Total 100 100%
Inte rpretation:

i above istatement
71
Inte rpretation:

i above istatement
72
Inte rpretation:

i above istatement
73
Q19. Understand commuters’
specific needs
i Respondents Percentage
Strongly Agree
22%
Agree 33 33%
Neutral 19 19%
Disagree 17 17%
Total 100 100%
Interpretation:

i above istatement
74
Percentage
Q20. Customers’ best interest at heart
Strongly Agree
30%
Agree 42 42%
Neutral 9 9%
Disagree 13 13%

i above istatement
75
Percentage
Total 100 100%
Interpretation:

Q21. Staff renders personal service to customers

35%

i above istatement
76
Percentage
Strongly Agree 35
Agree 42 42%
Neutral 11 11%
Disagree 8 8%
Total 100 100%
Interpretation:

i above istatement
77
Percentage

i above istatement
78
Percentage
Q22. Railway operations are convenient to all passengers
Strongly Agree 59
59%
Agree 18 18%
Neutral 17 17%
Disagree 2 2%
Total 100 100%
i were istrongly iagreed ihowever

i above
79
Interpretation:
59% respondents i 2% respondents were disagreed with the

i statement.
Hypothesis Test:
The following hypothesis have been tested in this research to get better view of reliability
i of the data collected.
H1: The satisfaction level of customers differs across the Hyderabad Metro Rail.
The t-test has been applied to test the above hypothesis. T-test is the statistical test which
i signifies the validity of the data. The above hypothesis have tested at 5% significance
i level.
One-Sample Statistics
80
N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Q4 200 2.17 .975 .097
Q5 200 2.26 .917 .092
Q6 200 2.09 1.026 .103
Q7 200 1.93 .655 .066
Q8 200 1.21 .409 .041
Q9 200 2.78 .970 .097
Q10 200 3.05 1.480 .148
Q11 200 1.33 .473 .047
Q12 200 2.67 .900 .090
Q13 200 2.01 1.010 .101
Q14 200 2.67 .954 .095
Q15 200 2.34 1.094 .109
Q16 200 2.50 1.352 .135
Q17 200 2.27 1.188 .119
Q18 200 2.22 1.097 .110
H1: The satisfaction level of customers differs across the Hyderabad Metro Rail.
The null hypotheses assumed that level of customers differs across the Hyderabad Metro Rail
81
The calculated t value is 1.8 which is lower than the table value as 2.15 therefore the null
i hypothesis is rejected. It signifies level of customers differs across the Hyderabad Metro
Rail.
One-Sample Test
Test Value = 5
95% Confidence Interval of the

Difference
Mean
i Difference
t df Sig. (2-tailed) Lower Upper
Q4 22.257 99 .000 2.170 1.98 2.36
Q5 24.647 99 .000 2.260 2.08 2.44
Q6 20.373 99 .000 2.090 1.89 2.29
Q7 29.453 99 .000 1.930 1.80 2.06
Q8 29.558 99 .000 1.210 1.08 2.15
Q9 28.658 99 .000 2.780 2.59 2.97
Q10 20.613 99 .000 3.050 2.76 3.34
Q11 28.143 99 .000 1.330 2.36 1.42
Q12 29.681 99 .000 2.670 2.49 2.85
Q13 19.901 99 .000 2.010 2.12 2.21
Q14 27.986 99 .000 2.670 2.48 2.86
Q15 21.394 99 .000 2.340 2.12 2.56
82
Q16 18.489 99 .000 2.500 2.23 2.77
Q17 19.109 99 .000 2.270 2.11 2.51

One-Sample Test
Test Value = 5
95% Confidence Interval of the

Difference
Mean
i Difference
t df Sig. (2-tailed) Lower Upper
Q4 22.257 99 .000 2.170 1.98 2.36
Q5 24.647 99 .000 2.260 2.08 2.44
Q6 20.373 99 .000 2.090 1.89 2.29
Q7 29.453 99 .000 1.930 1.80 2.06
Q8 29.558 99 .000 1.210 1.08 2.15
Q9 28.658 99 .000 2.780 2.59 2.97
Q10 20.613 99 .000 3.050 2.76 3.34
Q11 28.143 99 .000 1.330 2.36 1.42
Q12 29.681 99 .000 2.670 2.49 2.85
Q13 19.901 99 .000 2.010 2.12 2.21
Q14 27.986 99 .000 2.670 2.48 2.86
Q15 21.394 99 .000 2.340 2.12 2.56
83
Q16 18.489 99 .000 2.500 2.23 2.77
Q17 19.109 99 .000 2.270 2.11 2.51
Q18 20.235 99 .000 2.220 2.06 2.25
The null hypotheses assumed that level of customers does not differ across the Hyderabad
Metro Rail..
The calculated t value is 2.06 which is lower than the table value as 2.25 therefore the null
i hypothesis is rejected. It signifies that level of customers does not differ across the Hyderabad
Metro Rail..
Factory Analysis
Total Variance Explained
Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings
Comp
onent Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative %
4 3.105 20.699 20.699 3.105 20.699 20.699
5 2.032 13.547 34.246 2.032 13.547 34.246
6 1.498 9.989 44.235 1.498 9.989 44.235
7 1.277 8.513 52.748 1.277 8.513 52.748
8 1.067 7.116 59.863 1.067 7.116 59.863
9 1.031 6.875 66.739 1.031 6.875 66.739
10 .893 5.953 72.692
84
11 .845 5.636 78.328
12 .730 4.866 83.194
13 .617 4.116 87.309
14 .502 3.348 90.658
15 .430 2.864 93.521
16 .370 2.466 95.987
17 .330 2.203 98.190
18 .272 1.810 100.000
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
85
CHAPTER 5
FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS
&
CONCLUSION
5.1 FINDINGS
 25% respondents were from Below 25 years age group however 54% respondents
i were from 26-40 years age group
 32% respondents were strongly agreed however 9% respondents were disagreed

i with the above statement (Q1)  27% respondents were strongly agreed however
18% respondents were disagreed with the above statement (Q2)
i with the above statement (Q3)
86


87

5.2 CONCLUSION
As per the study, Indian railways appear to be providing services to the satisfaction of
i customers. The study indicates that customers' perception vary according to the nature of
i service. Measuring customer satisfaction with surveys gives direction to the railways for
i efforts iand ivaluable iinputs ifor iimprovement. iIn ithis icase, ithe ihighest icustomers'
i expectation reach in knowledge to answer the customers questions and accuracy in
i transactions followed by safety of customers's in metro rail. By comparing the customers’
i expectations with the perception it was found that the employees in railways are not
i giving the prompt services properly to the customers and it was also found that the
i employees in the railways are not willing to help the customers not giving them the
i individual attention and also not understanding their specific needs. The railways need to
i consider the weak areas in order to meet customer requirement. Hyderabad Metro rail
i seem to have satisfied its customers with good services and they have been successful in
i retaining its customers by providing better facilities than others railways.
In an economy of innovative technologies and changing markets, each and every service
i quality variable has become important. New financial products and services have to be
i continuously introduced in order to stay competent. Success mantra could be customer
i centric orientation, where the organization builds long term strategic relationships with its
i customers and Indian railways have been successful in achieving such relationship with
i customers however Hyderabad metro rail have to improve in this area. Indian railways
i need to concentrate more on their credit facilities and insurance services since customers
i do not have a very good opinion about these facilities being offered by railways. Indian
i railways enjoy the trust of the customers, which they have been leveraging to stay in the
i race however they need to improve their service quality by improving their physical
i facility, infrastructure and giving proper soft skill trainings to their employees. The study
88
i has limitations in terms of sample size and if more respondents could be included might
i be in terms of satisfaction ranking.
The study contribute to the improvement of railways service quality and offer a deep
understanding of the passenger’s expectations and perceptions that is beneficial for the
i
management of the Hyderabad Metro Rail to act accordingly. The research findings of
i paired iindicate inegative igaps iin iall iitems iof iservice iquality iwhich irevealed ithat
i expectations of customers were more than their perceptions. The negative gaps indicate
i that the service quality level was unsatisfactory. Accordingly, maximum gap was found in
i respect of tangibles dimension followed by reliability, empathy, responsiveness and
i assurance dimension. The highest negative scores have made it necessary for Hyderabad
i Metro Rail to take corrective measures and focus on improvement of service quality to
i increase its effectiveness. Also, strategic studies on improvement of service quality can
i help to minimize the gaps. Conversely, failing to make improvement will widen the gaps
i and which will result in passenger dissatisfaction towards service quality of Hyderabad
i Metro Rail. Further, more studies need to be conducted in order to extend the study range
i and use other research methodologies to determine the railways service quality.
89
5.3 RECOMMENDATION
 Hyderabad Metro Rail has to focus on core areas where most of the passengers
i prefer from railways Comprehensive attempt to implement the qualified services
i to the customers.
 Passengers prefer rail mode of transportation because of variety of reason on

i which economy, safety, convenient are vital. Even though the Railway authorities
i not it maintain or develop its service on these areas, the passengers cannot avoid
i the train journey. This is because of i safety and economy mode of services
i provided by the Railways. In this situation, the Railways would strictly focus the
i core areas where their services are to be rendered continuously to satisfy the
i passengers. .
 For last one year ladies compartment in train passes thorough Hyderabad was not
i at all safe for lady passengers. Even day time they victimized for harassment,
i attack from male passengers and commission of murder. Therefore, Railways are
i taken steps to deploy RPF and preferably lady staff at night.
 Compared to other states, Hyderabad Metro Rail are keeping punctuality. Most of
i the people satisfied with such service as qualified one. Therefore, Indian Railways,
i Hyderabad has given much emphasis on this factor continuously to retain this
i quality for long lasting
90
ANNEXURES
QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear Sir/Madam, I am a student of Sreenidhi Institute of Science And Technology,
i Yamnampet, Ghatkesar, Hyderabad. I am conducting a survey on consumer perception of
i metro rail service quality. I request you to kindly spare few minutes of time and help me in
i the survey. Your co- operation will be highly obliged.
1. Name:
2. Gende r: Male / Female
3. Age: Below 25 Years / 26-40 Years / Above 40 Years
4. Occupation: Student / Job / Business
5. Location:
6. Did you traveling experience with HMRL? Yes/No
7. Frequency of Travelling: Never/Daily/Weekly/Monthly
Please select your level of agreement to the following questions on a seven point scale.
1) Strongly disagree to 5) Strongly Agree

S.No 1 2 3 4 5
91
1. Professional appearance of staff
2 Physical comfort level of customers
3 Accessible and visual display of materials
4 Modern looking equipment
5 Rails are accurate in record keeping
6 Rails are accurate in train timings
7 Adhere to punctuality of trains
8 Staff shows interest in solving problems
9 Perform service correctly
10 Staff is always willing to help customers
11 Never too busy to respond

12
Staff tells exactly when services will be
performed
13 Treat public situation with care and seriousness
14 Staff is trustworthy
15 Staff is courteous
16 Staff is knowledgeable
17 Commuters feel safe in travel
18 Railways give individual attention
19 Understand commuters’ specific needs
20 Customers’ best interest at heart
21 Staff renders personal service to customers

22
Railway operations are convenient to all passengers
92
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Railwas, Journal of Information Technology. 2007; 22:432-439.
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95

A Study On Service Quality Gap With Reference To Hyd Metro

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A STUDY ON SERVICE QUALITY GAP WITH REFERENCE TO

HYDERABAD METRO RAIL

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

“MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION”

Dr. Harinath Karimikonda, MBA Ph.D

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

Various Formats of Metro

• Miyapur – L B Nagar - 29.87 km

• Nagole - Shilparamam - 26.51 km

• JBS – Falaknuma - 14.78 km

• Miyapur - BHEL - Patanchervuu 15 km.

• Faluknama - Shamshabad Airport 12 km.

• LB Nagar - Vanasthalipuram 4 km.

• ECIL - Tarnaka 7 km.

• Nagole - LB Nagar - Faluknama 15 km.

• JNTU - Shilparamam - Gacchibowli 14 km.

• JBS - Alwal 8 km.

• Gachibowli - ToliChowk - Lakdikapul 17 km

Service quality is a term which describes a comparison of expectations with performance.

• Reliability-Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately

• Responsiveness-Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service

• Empathy-Caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers

• Tangibles-Appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and

Service Quality in Metro Rails

• The i Services i Sector ias i a i whole iis ivery iheterogeneous

manufacturer, ia irail icannot iinspect iits iservices and iproducts

ito iweed iout

i unsatisfactory ones before they are presented to the customer.

Awards and nominations

• In November 2017, Commissioner of Railway Safety (CMRS) granted safety

• Line 1 - Red Line - Miyapur–LB Nagar - 29 km (18 mi) 27 stations

• Line 2 - Green Line - JBS–Falaknuma 15 km (9.3 mi) 15 stations

• Line 3 - Blue Line - Nagole–Raidurg i- 28 km (17 mi) 24 stations

Stage Target section Distance Line Line Status Opened

Stage Nagole– 16.8 i km Line Blue Operational 29

Stage Miyapur– 11.3 i km Line Red Operational 29

Stage Ameerpet– 8.5 km (5.3 Line Blue Operational 20 i March

Stage HITEC i City– 1.5 i km Line Blue Operational 29

Stage JBS–MGBS 11 km (6.8 Line Green Operational 7 i February

Stage MGBS– 5.2 km (3.2 Line Green Yet ito N/A

Target section Distance (in Line Line Status

Raidurg–Gachibowli– 31 i km i(19 Line IV TBA DPR

Nagole–LB iNagar 5 i km i(3.1 Line i III Blue DPR

Lakdi ika ipul–BHEL 20 i km i(12 Line V TBA DPR

Hyde rabad Airport Metro Express

Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (2004) (A Government of India Undertaking)

Cronin and Taylor (1992) in an international setting, and particularly in a developing

3.2 Objectives of the study

➢ To study about customer expectation towards service quality of metro rail ➢

To examine quality of services delivered by Hyderabad railways.

3.4 Scope of the study

➢ To identify the areas for improvements in Hyderabad Metro Rail service

3.5 Research Design

Secondary data collection

• Websites through internet

• i Published articles in the newspapers, magazines, journals, and

• Bar diagram, Pie chart.

• Random Sampling chosen by the gathering of data

• Metro Rail Passenger

3.6 Limitation of the study

 Sample size of 100 respondents is not enough to collect accurate information.

Gender No. of Respondents Percentage

Total 100 100%