1. INTRODUCTION:

Services are becoming major driving force behind many country's economies. Service quality is the decisive factor for any service organization to create the difference and obtain competitive advantage. Quality changes the nature of business competition and, perhaps more than any other factor. Quality is considered to be main determinant of customers satisfaction in both manufacturing and service quality. In today's dynamic world most of the service firms especially in the developing country like India are realizing the significance of customer's preference and are working towards quality management approaches to facilitate managing their businesses.

Some services have been particularly important for improving performance in India. Software is one sector in which India has achieved a remarkable global brand identity. Tourism and travel-related services and transport services are also major items in India's services. Besides these, the potential and growing services include many professional services, infrastructure-related services, and financial services.

Indian Railways is the state-owned railway Company of India. Indian railways have undergone many changes since its first journey in 1853. It has adopted many new technologies and made many strategic moves to keep its several thousands of customers "on board".

Indian Railway is indeed the Lifeline of the Country with its admirable performance since the last 163 years. Indian Railways has 115,000 kilometers of total track over a route of 65,808 kilometers and 7,112 stations. Indian Railways is the largest railway network in Asia and world’s largest railway system under a single management. Indian Railways employs approximately 1.35 million people, making itself the second largest commercial or utility employer in the world. Railways has unique characteristic. It has large capacity, high safety level, and free from traffic jam. These characteristic makes railway as primary public transportation. Indian Railway caters to the needs of the people across geographies and income strata as well as ethnic, religious and social diversities. It is also connected with centres of commerce and industry, places of pilgrimage, historical sites, and tourist attractions. Railways also reached the remote and underserved areas of the country and bringing them into the national mainstream of development.

HISTORY OF INDIAN RAILWAYS:

Railways were first introduced to India in the year 1853 from Mumbai to Thane. In the year 1951 systems were nationalized as one unit, the Indian railways, becoming one of the largest railway networks in the world. IR operates both long distance and Sunuran rail systems on a multi gauge network of broad meter and narrow gauges. it also own locomotive and coach production facilities at several places in INDIA assigned code identifying there gauge , kind of power and type of operation . Its operation covers twenty nine states and seven union territories also provide limited international services to NEPAL, BANGLADESH and PAKISTAN.

The history of rail transport in INDIA began in the mid nineteenth century. The core of the pressure for building railways in INDIA came from LONDON. In 1848, there was not a single line in INDIA. The country's first railway built by the GREAT INDIAN PENINSULA RAILWAYS (GIPR) opened in 1853, between Bombay and thane .The great southern Indian railways co. was founded by BRITAIN in 1853 and registered in 1859.The 80 mile link from Trichnopoly to Negapatam was opened in 1861.

PASSENGER/CONSUMER SATISFACTION:

Public transportation systems provide the most efficient means for moving large number of people, especially in densely 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.

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 passengers’ services face long term competitive threats from airlines, luxury buses, personalized 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 railway 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.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

According to the international literature on marketing science, their main objective is to achieve passenger satisfaction and loyalty, as well as a better quality of service, which will keep the operator at a competitive position in the domain of passenger transportation, (Kotler, 1991).

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

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

· Jin Tao (2005) proposed to evaluate passenger service quality from the aspects of ticketing and waiting for services (ticketing service quality, and quality of service waiting), travel services (punctuality, comfort, safety) and get off at the service station, and so on with experts sort method, visitor survey evaluation method and the weighted average method in literature.

· Anjali Sharma and Dr. A.K Mishra (2012), reveals that there are five generic dimensions of service quality: Reliability, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy, and Responsiveness. But a new dimension should also be understood by Delhi Metro that Security to provider services which means firms should possess the skill and knowledge to perform a service so that maximum satisfaction can be provided. Measuring Commuters’ Perception on Service Quality Using SERVQUAL in Delhi Metro.

· Salma and Sarwar (2008) conducted a research on customer relationship management and how does it affects service quality. From the research they found that the focus of service marketing firms should be to continue to improve implementation of all aspects of service marketing rather than shifting attention to CRM.

GAP IN THE LITERATURE:

Almost all the studies conducted so far on Indian Railways show that the NORTHEASTERN aspect of Indian Railways has largely been neglected and does not find a due place in these studies signaling, rolling stock etc. Except for a few scanty articles and papers, none of these is specific in dealing with the NORTHEASTERN REGION aspect of Indian Railways 'Also there has been no major academic or organisational level research done on this aspect of Indian Railways.

The limitations of the existing studies on the one hand and the recent limited attempts, both at organisational as well as academic levels, to deal with the subject of rail-based tourism in the country on the other, leave a gap for making a study to explore the potential and review the performance of Indian Railways with regard to its role in the promotion of tourism in the country.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

The Present Research enquiry is undertaken with the following objective:

To collect the opinions of the railway passenger with regards to the Indian railways services and make an analysis of the same.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

· The study is mainly based on the information given by the sample respondents and the factors given by them are subjects to their beliefs and attitude.

· Due to time and economic constraints of the research, number of respondents has been limited.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

POPULATION OF THE STUDY:

The target population for this research defined to know the customer satisfaction of railways services in North-eastern region. In this study the accessible population comprised of the entire passenger in the different select trains travelling to and fro in Assam.

SAMPLE OF THE STUDY:

The sample for the present study is selected at 100.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE:

For the purpose of selecting the samples for the study, convenient sample technique is being deployed.

STATISTICAL TOOLS:

For the study of this research, standard questionnaire (Annexure) is being used to collect data and information from the passengers regarding their satisfaction level. Simple statistical percentage chart and diagram have been used to analyze the data.

DATA COLLECTION METHOD:

The present study consists of both primary and secondary data. The data are collected from the respondents with the help of a questionnaire specially designed for the aforesaid purpose.

The primary data have been collected from the respondents.

The secondary data were collected through published articles, journals, magazines and website etc.

FINDINGS OF THE STUDY:

The Researcher collected data from 100 respondents using a structured questionnaire from the passengers boarding the trains themselves and have been able to illicit the following facts with regards to the different services offered by the Indian Railways and the perceptions of its consumers with regards to the same as availed by them:

1. 46% of the respondents interviewed who were availing the services of Indian railways were male and 44% of the respondents were female. Along with that 10% of the respondents belonged to third gender category.

Table: 1: Classification of Respondents on the basis of Sex

SEX	PERCENTAGE
MALE	46%
FEMALE	44%
THIRD GENDER	10%

Source: Field Survey

2. Different age group of people were enquired and it is inferred that maximum passengers are below 30 years of age and travels mostly for education purposes. 22% of the respondents belonged to 30-39 age group. Passengers’ age ranging from 30-59 years travels mostly for official or business purposes. However, 14% of the sample respondents were senior citizen who commutes in train mainly for pilgrimage or treatment purposes.

Table:2: Classification of Respondents on the basis of Age Groups

AGE	PERCENTAGE
BELOW 30	24%
30-39	22%
40-49	20%
50-59	20%
60 AND ABOVE	14%

Source: Field Survey

Figure 1: Graph showing the classification of respondents

3. The researcher has observed that maximum respondents prefers to travels by AC coaches. The reason for the same may be many -weather conditions, a sense of security for the female passengers, illness of the passengers, less instances of theft of luggage’s in compartments, etc. 34 % of the sample respondents travels in general coaches. Percentage of passengers who are office goers avails the chair car coaches for travelling short distances is 4% only.

4. 48% of the respondents under study revealed that they avail the services of Indian mainly for leisure purposes which is followed by 36%respondents who commutes once in a 6 months. 16% of the sample passengers travel regularly.

Table: 3: Classification of Respondents on the basis of frequency of Travel

FREQUENCY	PERCENTAGE
REGULARLY	16%
QUITE FREQUENTLY(once in a 6 months)	36%
OCCASIONALLY (once in a year)	48%
TOTAL	100%

Source: Field Survey

5. 20% of the passengers under study opine that the seats in the compartments are good and 4 % of the passengers under study expressed that the seats are quite comfortable. 10% of the respondents are dissatisfied and 4% of the passengers are highly dissatisfied with the quality of seats. A major portion of the sample respondents did not expressed their view regarding this parameter.

Source: Field Survey

Figure 2: Opinion of Respondents with regards to seat in the compartments

6. Maximum passengers are highly dissatisfied with the cleanliness of the coaches and bathrooms. Non availability of handwash and toilet, poor water facilities in the compartment are the reasons for such dissatisfaction among the passengers under study.

Source: Field Survey

Figure:3: Opinion of Respondents with regards to Cleanliness of Coaches

7 Majority of the passengers under study revealed that the fans and AC in the compartments work properly. The results showed that 60% of the respondents are moderately satisfied with it while 20% are highly satisfied; just 2% are very highly satisfied.

7. 48% of the rail passengers under study reported being moderately satisfied with the proper working of the lights in the coaches, however the proportion being highly or rather very highly satisfied with the working of lights are considerably lower. Furthermore, 6% of the respondents said that they were highly dissatisfied and 12% were very highly dissatisfied.

Souce: Field Survey

Figure: 4: Respondent’s Opinion with regards to Lighting Facilities

8. Half of the sample respondents (50%) expressed their moderate level of satisfaction towards the TTE and other train attendents’ behaviour with the passengers while 26% reported being highly satisfied and 4% were very highly satisfied.

Table:4: Respondents Opinion with regards to behaviour of On- Duty Personnels

Level of satisfaction of the responents	Percentage
VERY HIGHLY SATISFIED	4%
HIGHLY SATISFIED	26%
MODERATELY SATISFIED	50%
HIGHLY DISSATISFIED	6%
VERY HIGHLY DISSATISFIED	14%
TOTAL	100%

Souce: Field Survey

9. A major portion of the sample respondents are moderately satisfied with the food served by the pantry car whereas 18% were highly dissatisfied with the quality of food and another 18% were very highly dissatisfied as they have experienced that the rate they have been charged against the food is quite high with respect to the quality and preparation of meals. The study also revealed that majority of the passengers did not ever enquired about the prescribed rate of food and packaged drinking water of which the catering department take advantage and charge different prices from different passengers.

Table:5: Showing satisfaction level of consumers with regards to catering services

Level of satisfaction of the respondents	Percentage
VERY HIGHLY SATISFIED	2%
HIGHLY SATISFIED	12%
MODERATELY SATISFIED	60%
HIGHLY DISSATISFIED	14%
VERY HIGHLY DISSATISFIED	12%
TOTAL	100%

Souce: Field Survey

Figure:5: Respondents Opinion with regards to Catering Services

10. 66% of the respondents revealed their dissatisfaction towards the punctuality of trains in NER.

11. Drinking water facilities at stations moderately satisfies more than half of the passengers under study whereas 8% are highly dissatisfied while 10% are very highly dissatisfied for which passengers need to buy packaged drinking water from the stations. None of the passengers are very highly satisfied with the pay and use toilets available at stations. However, 62% of the passengers are moderately satisfied. Passengers who are dissatisfied with the toilets scores 28% in total and absence of cleanliness causes such dissatisfaction. 68% of the passengers revealed their moderate satisfaction towards the working of fans in the platform. Majority of the passengers are highly dissatisfied with the sitting arrangement and mobile charging points facility available in platforms. A total of 44% respondents are dissatisfied with the retiring room. Maximum of the respondents are dissatisfied with the waiting and cloak room facilities at stations. Majority respondents are satisfied with the canteen facilities/ food stalls at major stations. However, they also opined that such services needs to be also extended to the other stations.

Souce: Field Survey

Figure:6: Showing satisfaction level of respondents with regards to various service offerings

12. Passengers are quite satisfied with the safety in the train and train fares.

13. 58% of the passengers under study are satisfied with the display board of time but 42% of the passengers are dissatisfied suggesting that time table, display boards and waiting charts should be more visually appealing and should be installed in all the stations.

14. Half of the respondents are satisfied with the availability of different time of train at different stations whereas half of the respondents are not.

15. Maximum passengers under study are dissatisfied with the cleanliness of platforms.

16. Majority of the sample respondents expressed their satisfaction with the overall services provided by the Indian Railways suggesting that modification in some aspect is required like prohibiting entry of unauthorised vendors and beggars, arranging available reservation counters during season time, overcrowding in the unreserved compartments should be managed, behaviour of the staffs towards the passengers at the stations should be enhanced, clarity and frequency of announcement must be improved.

Souce: Field Survey

Figure:6: Overall Satisfaction of Respondents with regards to the services of Indian Railways:

SUGGESTIONS:

After conducting the study, the Researcher would take this opportunity to put forward the following suggestions:

· The North Eastern Region of the country suffers from a drawback due to its hilly terrain which is acting as a constraint in the further development of building Railway network. It is highly essential at this juncture that the Ministry understands the developmental need and respects the same and build railway network in the areas which are yet to be explored by them. Perhaps hiring some experts in this regards can be fruitful. The entire North Eastern region has got enough potential to transform itself into a tourists destination hub and hence the development of railway network can be fruitful for the economy of the country as well.

· It is of no matter of doubt that the present Government is taking stringent measures to keep the stations and the trains clean but this cannot be a success until and unless all the people involved in the process are made aware of its importance and for these the Government needs to take strict measures at the earliest. All the major stations needs to be put under CCTV surveillances along with the trains (especially near the bathrooms) so that the culprits can be identified and proper steps (fines, imprisonment etc.) can be taken against them.

· Furthermore, the various types of attendants of the Indian Railways needs to be trained properly and regularly at intervals. Most of the passengers reported of their abrupt behaviours and thus these needs to be corrected. Further, there should be a system of instant grievance redressal machinery available to a aggrieved Passenger so that the matters are solved on real time basis.

· Another area of problems faced by the Passengers is with regard to the quality of food items served in the train. Additionally something that adds to their pain is the prices of food items which they reported to be very high. The Authority is required to take immediate measures to ensure quality food at reasonable prices. The catering department must also be in possession of the current food rate charts so that a curious passenger can have a look at it if required.

· In the age of Digitalisation where by almost majority of the people are in the possession of Smart Phones, it becomes highly essential that the stations and the trains are equipped with Charging points for Mobile Phones and Laptops. But unfortunately from the experience in the field the researchers found out that out of every 4 charging points, only 1 happens to be functional. Therefore these things needs to be checked regularly and corrective measures is expected to be taken at the earliest.

· Installation of RO Purifiers in all the stations and its timely maintenance is highly essential for the safety of the consumers.

· Maintenance/Repair of Lights and fans, ensuring handwash and toilet paper in the bathroom should be a must in order to maintain hygiene factor.

· Regular feedback from the consumer must be availed directly from them using some automated system rather than doing it manually from the attendants which usually leads to a lot of manipulation.

· Adding of some additional rail tracks can help in reducing the traffic and instead maintaining timeliness and reducing the time required for the journey. Further, the Ministry may consider adding some superfast trains in the current route as well as the demand is very high for this particular means of transportation.

CONCLUSION:

The service offering by Indian railway is vital for its growth. The satisfaction of the need of the passengers is important to compete with other mode of transport. On the basis of this study some suggestions has been made. If the suggestive measurements have been considered by the Indian Railways, it is hope that the Indian Railways will shine and bring grandeur to our country in the near future.

REFERENCES:

1. Rust, R.T., A. J. Zahorik, T. L. Keiningham (1995); Return on quality (ROQ): Making service quality financially accountable. J. Marketing 58 (2), pp: 58-70.

2. Gleave, S. D (2000); Rail Passenger Quality of Service Valuation, London.

3. Agarwal, R. (2008); Public Transportation and Customer Satisfaction. Global Business Review 9(2), pp: 257-272.

4. 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.

5. Railway Efficiency – An Overview and a Look at Opportunities for Improvement Discussion Paper No. 2013-12 Arne BECK / Heiner BENTE / Martin SCHILLING.

6. Reena (Ramneek Kaur) and Dr. Tejinder Sharma, “Assessment of Service Quality-A Conceptual Framework”, International Journal of Marketing and Human Resource Management (IJMHRM), Volume 5, Issue 1, 2014, pp. 33 -41, ISSN Print: 0976 – 6421, ISSN Online: 0976-643X.

7. A.Elgin and Dr.V.R.Nedunchezhian, “An Empirical Investigation on Service Quality and Passengers’ Perception –A Gap Analysis”, International Journal of Management (IJM), Volume 2, Issue 2, 2011, pp. 167 -175, ISSN Print: 0976-6502, ISSN Online: 0976-6510. 15

Received on 09.08.2017 Modified on 31.08.2017

Asian Journal of Management. 2018; 9(1):113-119.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2018.00017.3

Items /facilities	Very highly satisfied	Highly satisfied	Moderately satisfied	Highly dissatisfied	Very highly dissatisfied	Total
Drinking water	4%	16%	62%	8%	10%	100%
Pay and use toilets	NIL	10%	62%	14%	14%	100%
Fans in the platform	2%	4%	68%	20%	6%	100%
Sitting arrangements	10%	16%	10%	40%	24%	100%
Mobile charging points	NIL	NIL	30%	40%	30%	100%
Retiring room	4%	10%	22%	24%	20%	100%
Waiting room	16%	24%	26%	14%	40%	100%
Cloak room	4%	2%	18%	16%	60%	100%
Canteen facilities /food stalls	10%	20%	24%	26%	20%	100%