CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON ONLINE RAILWAY SYSTEM

1.1 TITLE MEANING

Now a day’s technological advancement makes our life easier. As a part of this

advancement sector facilitates their client involvement by offering most

convenient services through electronic means. To compete globally railway

system offer on line booking facilities. Customers are now able to different

types of booking via online. People are now busy enough and perception among

people has increased than ever before. So they expect high quality services with

short period of time. Although technological convergent takes place and

traditional reservation booking system becomes online.

In this research paper I will try to represent the present scenario of online

reservation system in Coimbatore and customers satisfaction towards these

services. For this purpose I will interview customers of Coimbatore. In this

study I have got some key factors which are very essential to build up an

effective customer relationship. I have also pointed out some factors which are

detrimental to customer relationship and make customers dissatisfied. Finally I

will make some recommendations on the basis of my field work.

INTRODUCTION

The Project Online Railway Booking System deals with the automation

of the reservation and enquiry of the railway reservation system. It maintains all

information starting from reservation to cancellation of tickets. It also acts as an

enquiry system about the different trains available. It gives the details of the

distance arrival time and departure time of the different trains. The

computerisation is aimed at job simplification and reducing the manual work

and effective record maintenance. The Indian Railways (IR) carries about 5.5

lakhs passengers in reserved accommodation every day. The Computerised

Passenger Reservation System (PRS) facilities the booking and cancellation of

tickets from any of the 4000 terminals(i.e. PRS booking window all over the

countries). These tickets can be booked or cancelled for journeys commencing

in any part of India and ending in any other part, with travel time as long as

72hours and distance up to several thousand kilometers. In the given project will

be help users to find train details, book and cancel tickets and the exact rates of

their tickets to the desired destination. With the help of online booking people

can book their tickets online through internet, sitting in their home by a single

click of mouse. Using their credit cards people can easily g+et their tickets done

within minutes.

1.2 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Customer satisfaction is a vital requirement for an organization success. When

happy at service, Personnel generally become more active, effective, and

productive. Dissatisfaction could lead to underperformance and block the

organization`s success. So, there should be a continuous dialogue process

between the services and the management. All the operations would clinch

responsibility for the impact of their activities on the atmosphere, consumers.

Indian Railways should consider the issues like environmental deprivation,

pollution, and energy costs to be exploited fully for promoting Railways.

Furthermore, Railway booking operations would positively promote the public

awareness by its own accord, eliminating exercises that harm the customer. In

course of achieving these operation objectives there might be some conflicting

constraints that arise, like processing the new technology.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Coimbatore Junction is one of the busiest Junctions in Tamil Nadu.

There are more than 50 express trains and 10 passenger trains are passes daily in

Coimbatore Junction. Particularly, the passengers in Coimbatore Junction are

moving towards the entire route. Every day more than 1500 passengers are

boarding in Coimbatore. But the Problem is the reservation systems provided

by the southern railway is not sufficient for the passengers. The passengers are

struggling to get tickets in time. There are so many of facilities available to

book their tickets. But the problem is how they are satisfied with the Railway

Reservation System. Now, the Coimbatore Junction is included in the Salem

division.
1.3 SCOPE OF STUDY

The new system will include an online web reservation form, database to store

equipment and employee data, Web portal, and a secure network. The

organization already has a Web site where employees and customers can view

the services and products offered, so this project does not involve the web

development, but will include online form, database, and Web portal.

 Online viewing of reservation information

 Online viewing of who has what equipment
 E-mail reminders of upcoming reservations
 Online cancelation capability
 Allow rescheduling of reservations

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 To identify the problem faced by the passengers while on booking the

tickets.
 To analysis the level of Train passenger satisfaction of the Coimbatore
District.
 To observe the present scenario of online booking in Coimbatore.
 To know the expectations of customers and reality of online booking
services.
 To make recommendation on the basis of customer’s demand.

In this study, the researcher made an attempt to know the Indian Railway

Reservation System among the passenger of Coimbatore city. Problems and

satisfaction has identified the user as the most important voice in assessing

service and benefit to the passenger.

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Awareness and satisfaction of the passenger in booking their tickets is

important in determining the function of the railway reservation system.

Awareness and satisfaction depicts the state of mind of a passenger at a

particular point of time. whether he aware or not and whether he is satisfied or

not. The present investigation was undertaken to develop a measure of the level

of awareness and satisfaction of passenger and to test its validity and reliability.

The most popular research instrument for collecting data the questionnaires was

used. The primary data was used to collect information from public or passenger

of the Coimbatore city. A well-structured questionnaire is used for the study.

The secondary data was also used to collect the information from Coimbatore

passenger reservation centre, published articles.

Primary data: “In primary data collection, you collect the data yourself using
methods such as interviews and questionnaires. The key point here is that the
data you collect is unique to you and your research and, until you publish, no
one else has access to it. There are many methods of collecting primary data and
the main methods include: questionnaires, interviews, focus group, interviews,
observation, case-studies, diaries, critical incidents, portfolios etc.” Collecting
data directly from the practical field is called primary source of data. The
methods that will be used to collect the primary data are as follows:
 Face to face conversation with the client.
 Open-ended & close-ended questionnaire method is used.
 Observation method used in some cases.
Secondary data: “Secondary data is data that has already been collected by
someone else for a different purpose to yours. For example, this could mean
using: data collected on its customers. data supplied by a marketing
organization.

Sampling Design:
Sampling is a tool which helps to know the characteristics of population by
examining only a small part of it. The data will be collected randomly from 100
customers as a sample. A stratified sampling procedure will be used while
collecting data.

1.6 LIMITATION OF STUDY

The limitations of the study are the followings:

 Most of the customers dislike disclosing information.
 Many individuals are not familiar with this type of work.
 Lake of experience in research work.
CHAPTER SCHEME
 Chapter 1 deals with introduction and design of the study
 Chapter 2 deals with Review of literature
 Chapter 3 deals with company profile.
 Chapter 3 deals with Analysis and interpretation of data
 Chapter4 deals with summary of findings,suggestion and conclusion.
2. REVIEW OF LITERATU RE

Madhavaiah and Durga Rao 2007 undertook a comparative study of service

Quality perceptions in public sector transport corporations. The objectives of the

study were to examine customer perceptions of services provided by public

sector road transport corporations of two south Indian states and to assess the

effectiveness of existing measures of service quality in predicting customer

satisfaction and intention to repatronize the services. The analysis dealt with

how well the service perception (SERVPERF) measures exhibited reliability

when used in passenger road transport services of Andhra Pradesh passengers

and Tamilnadu.

Jeganathan 2010 in his study, “Customer of Railways-An Attitude Study with

Special Reference to Thirunelveli- Nagercoil Section” has found that if season

ticket fares are reduced for long distance travel, it will be an added attraction to

the customer.

Rama Prasad 2011 in his article, “A Study on Passenger Amenities in

Railways” has found that more general compartments will be required for short

distance travellers and it has been found that most of the passengers are not

happy particularly with the quality of food. Quality of food should be improved

and variety of items should be introduced.

Murty, Kishore Kumar Dhavala, Meenakshi Ghosh and Rashmi Singh

2006 presented a working paper to Institute of Economic Growth. In this paper

the growing demand for public transport in mega cities has serious effects on

urban eco-system especially due to the increased; atmospheric pollution and

changes in land use pattern. Reduction in air pollution, Time saving to

passengers, Reduction in accidents, Reduction in Traffic, Reduction in

congestion and fuel savings. There are incremental benefits and costs to number

of agents.

Makesh 2012 conducted a study on “A study on satisfaction of customer of

Indian Railways: The case study of Southern Railway with particular reference

to the front line staff”. The objectives of the study were to measure the level of

customer satisfaction of employees of Indian Railways and to study the working

conditions in the Southern Railways.

Chinmoy Kumar 2006 undertook a study about Indian Railways-IT

Innovations in passenger services. The purpose of the study was to provide an

insight into the various cost saving innovations that were adopted by the Indian

Railways in improving and advancing their passengers’ services. The

progressive implementation of information technology served as a thrust

towards better responsiveness to the raising passenger demands. The study

revealed that the on-line reservation system was launched in August 2002 under

the aegis of IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation).

John Gabriel and Suresh Babu 2013 undertook a study about the passenger

reservation system in the Indian railways. The objectives of the study were to

determine the efficiency of passenger reservation services in the Indian railways

system and to examine whether the existing system of railway reservation is

really efficient in satisfying the needs of the travelling public, and whether any

change or alteration in the existing system could bring about a perceptible

improvement of the services.

Sumathy 2005 in her project titled” history of Southern Railways”, has 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. Special

trains were operated during festival time. Temporary waiting halls, latrines etc.,

Jain Beko 2008 undertook a study about some evidence on elasticity of demand

for services of public railway passenger transportation in Slovenia. The

objective of this study was to present estimates of responsiveness of demand for

service of railway passenger transportation with respect to chosen price and

income elements using Slovenian data. Previous work on Slovenian railway

transport has focused on analyzing management, infrastructure re-organization

and ownership transformation to speed up Slovenia’s integration into the

European transport system and on methods of sales promotion.

Dennis Huisman, Leo Kroon, Ramon Lentink and Michiel Vromans 2009

studied about the operations research in passenger railway transportation in

Netherlands Railways. The purpose of the study was to analyze the models and

techniques used in railway transportation by passenger operators. In this study,

the global planning problems occurring at the strategic, tactical, operational and

short term planning level were discussed. The study revealed that in the coming

years there will be less focus on the classical problems and more focus on some

promising fields like reliability of timetables.

3.COMPANY PROFILE

Springfield Travels is a Corporate Travel Agency operated by Springfield

Global Service, headquartered in Coimbatore, India. This is a full-service travel

agency that provides comprehensive services to our clients where you can

design your own itinerary, holidays, hotels, visa, tickets and other travel related

services. We provide professional services along with individual approach to

each and every client with the best products, highest service standards and

lowest possible price. We are constantly looking to enhance and expand our

product range, and are always happy to tailor-make itineraries to our customer’s

needs or special interests. We customizes each trip to your specific needs,

whether you are looking for Luxury or Budgeted, Travelling for pleasure,

Business, Adventure, Family Trip, Romantic Getaways, Group Travel. We

make the planning process as stress-free as the vacation itself. We are always

available along the way and when you call us, we will answer! Call us for flight

tickets, hotel accommodations, sightseeings, transfers, getaways, visa

assistance, global sim cards, currency exchange, pre-paid travel cards and

Overseas travel insurance. We offer luxury service with value for your money.

TICKETING SYSTEM
The railway system in India is one of the best and popular modes of public

transportation in the country. There are thousands of people who travel by train

every day. It is the most preferred mode of transport as most trains run

overnight and it is possible for corporate people and businessmen to reach their

places of work without having to waste day time in travel. Moreover, it is a very

economical means of transport and is affordable by people from all walks of

life. Train ticket reservations can be done from up to 3 months in advance from

the date of intended travel. We operate a central ticket terminal and offer on spot

ticket reservations and confirmations. Thus, with a single telephone call to us,

you can easily book your train tickets to any destination within a few minutes.

WHY OUR COMPANY

Being a reliable company, we offer the clients with the most transparent deals

and follow ethical business practice. We always consider the very basic

requirement of our customer as the major priority for the company.

OUR MISSION

The mission of the company is to provide the finest tours packages to our

clients. We always ensure that there is no compromise on the grounds of quality

and satisfaction. Expectation sets the foundation for satisfaction. We imbibe the

same spirit in the arrangement of our different tour packages.

OUR VISION

Our focus is to improve and fulfil the customer requirements by the means of

providing innovative and excellent travel and tour service. We believe in

rendering our service in well stipulated time frame. Timely, execution of our

trip is due to our vast experience in the field.

Personal information:
1. Age
A. Below 30
B. 30-39
C. 40-49
D. 50-59
E. 60 and above

2. Division

A. TVC

B. PGT

C. MAS

3. Sex

A. Male

B. Female

4. Occupation Student

A. Business

B. Salaried

C. Professional

D. Others

5. How frequently do you avail the services of Railways?

A. Daily

B. Weekly

C. Occasionally

D. Rarely

E. Very Rarely
 6.Type of train you frequently use
A. Passenger

B. Express

C. Super fast

D. Jan Shatabdi

E. Other

7.Rank your opinion as 1,2,3,4 & 5 about preference of rail service to other
modes of transport.

A. Low fare

B. Comforts

C. Speed

D. Security

E. Reliability

8.Rank your opinion as 1,2,3,4 about improvement in passenger amenities

if you are rail passengers for more than a period of five years?

A. Comforts
B. Convenience
C. Safety
D. Punctuality


If you have lodged any complaints to the railway authorities, specify

A. Complaint book kept in

B. trains/stations Written
C. complaints to higher

D. officials Oral
complaints

10.Rate your opinion regarding fare and other charges.

FARE Very High High Moderate Low Very Low

Ordinary Ticket fare:
Express Ticket fare
A/c class fare
OTHER CHARGES
Sleeper Charges
Super fast charges
Tatkal charges
Cancellation Charges
11.Are you availing any concession in fare?

A. Yes
B. No

12.Method of getting tickets?

A. Ticket counters
B. e- ticketing
C. Post-Offices
D. Vending machines
E. Jana sadharan ticket agents
13.Difficulty in e-ticketing

A. Service charges
B. Automatic cancellation of waitlisted tickets
C. Change in name and boarding station
D. Connectivity problems 

14.If you are a season ticket holder, express your opinion by using a tick
mark.

Highly Highly
satisfied Moderate Dissatisfied
satisfied dissatisfied

Turnaround in Indian Railways- A Study with Special Reference to Southern Railway ii

 Number of unreserved
coaches in trains.
Fare in relation to
comforts.
Conversion of express
trains into super fast

Turnaround in Indian Railways- A Study with Special Reference to Southern Railway iii
 15.Express your opinion by using a tick mark.

Highly Highly
satisfied Moderate Dissatisfied
satisfied dissatisfied
Availability of seats in
Tatkal
Tatkal period

16. Facilities at the reservation

Mark your opinion in the Highly Highly

appropriate Satisfied Moderat Dissatisfied
Satisfied e dissatisfie
column by putting a tick( √ ) d
mark
Number of Reservation
Counters
Working hours of reservation
counters
Advance booking period for
reservation
Safety and security at the
counter

17. Have you ever faced with any offences in trains like?

A. Public Nuisance
B. Seat cornering
C. Theft of property
D. Others (specify)
18.What is the most important thing to focus on to improve your satisfaction?

19.Please give suggestions in any of the above mentioned facts.

25. When trains are unusually detained, have you ever informed of the reasons,
approximate time of departure etc.

A. in Indian
Turnaround Always Railways- A Study with Special Reference to Southern Railway iv
B. Frequently
C. Rarely
D. Very rarely
 E. Never
26. Give your valuable suggestions in any of the above mentioned ?

Turnaround in Indian Railways- A Study with Special Reference to Southern Railway v