DETERMINANTS OF PASSENGER SATISFACTION ON SERVICE QUALITY IN SOUTHERN RAILWAYS WITH REFERENCE TO SALEM DIVISION

: This study is about analyzing the satisfaction of customers (passengers) on the service given by southern railways with reference to Salem division. For this purpose the factors assurance, tangibles, timeliness, responsiveness, information system, empathy, food and safety, reliability, and security were employed to measure the passengers perceptions about the service quality of railways. The customers are limited to Salem junction and they are selected on random basis. The main objective of the study is to know about the perception of customers towards service provided by southern railways and to implement linear regression model to know about the factors influencing customer satisfaction. For this purpose a sample of 500 was collected out of 550 respondents were frequency analysis, chi square with cross tabulation, factor analysis, Anova, multiple regression model and descriptive statistics were used as statistical tools for analyzing the data. The study concludes that improving the quality of service is one of the ways to improve the competitiveness of Railway Passenger Business. In all the trains and at stations the above questionnaire can be used for collecting the feedback from passengers.


Hypothesis:
 There is no significant relationship between factors related with level of satisfaction of passengers and age  There is no significant relationship between factors related with acceptance level on catering services in southern railways and age Research Methodology: The study is of empirical in nature. The survey was conducted in Southern railways which include (Salem, Erode, Tiruppur and Coimbatore districts). The study used both primary data and secondary data. The primary data was collected through field survey in the study area. First-hand information's pertaining to the benefits derived and the various competencies encountered were collected from 500 passengers to know about the level of satisfaction towards service provided by southern railways. Sampling Design: The study proposes to cover the satisfaction on service provided by southern railways to their customers. As the study is based on passenger satisfaction towards southern railways the samples don't have criteria and for this purpose Convenience sampling is used for the research.

Fieldwork and Collection of Data:
The following dimensions were used for collecting Data: Level of satisfaction of passengers, Responsibility of railway officers, Basic Facilities, Hygiene factors, Safety & Security, Catering, Punctuality, Behavior of staffs, and Facilities inside the Trains Framework of Analysis: In order to suit the requirements of the present study, the tests which have been employed by the researcher are Frequency analysis, Chi square with cross tabulation, Factor analysis, Analysis of Variance(ANOVA) , Multiple regression model and Descriptive statistics. .All the tests in the study were carried out by formulating suitable hypothesis and were also tested at 5% and 1% level of significance.

Tools for Data Collection:
Frequency analysis, Chi square with cross tabulation, Factor analysis, ANOVA, Multiple regression model and Descriptive statistics.

Limitations of the Study:
 The data was collected only with the passengers of southern railways were the perception may vary with other railways in India.  The study could not be generalized due to the fact that researcher adapted personal interview method.  There was a bias in collecting the data as the respondents may given a wrong answer for the questions asked with them. The above table shows about the demographic profile of the respondents. Out of 500 respondents 71.4% were male and 28.6% were female. 3% are from the age group of below 18, 36.2% are from the age group of 18-25, 30.2% are from the age group of 29-35, 30.6% are from the age group of above 35. 29.8% are married and 70.2% are unmarried in our survey. 3.2% have completed 10 th standard, 3% have completed their higher secondary, 56.2% have completed their UG, and 37.6% have completed their PG. 8% are from semi rural area, 33.4% are from rural area, 51% are from Urban area, 7.6% are from semi urban area. 6.2% are earning below 5000 per month in our survey, 26.8% are earning from 5000-10000/month, 30.8% are earning from 10000-20000/ month, and 36.2% are earning from Above 20000/month. It's inferred that most of the respondents are from above 20000/month in our study. Rank Correlation: H0: There is a significant relationship between the rank given and preference towards rail service H1: There is no significant relationship between the rank given and preference towards rail service

S.No
Ranking The above table shows about the relationship between rank given and preference towards rail service as the correlation is at -1 it's inferred that there is no relationship between the rank given and preference towards rail service. And based on the rank speed was mostly been preferred by the respondents. The tool descriptive statistics is used to find out the major factors which have impact towards the attributes based on the average of mean.

International Journal of Current Research and Modern Education (IJCRME)
Impact Factor: 6.725, ISSN (Online): 2455 -5428  (www.rdmodernresearch.com) Volume 2, Issue 2 Valid N (list wise) 500 Interpretation: The above table shows about the mean score for level of satisfaction of passengers. The mean score for most of the elements given in the satisfaction of passengers is below 3, which indicates that the satisfaction level of the respondents are below average. The average correlation for the dimension acceptance level on catering services is at (-0.001) were its negatively correlated with gender which shows that there is no relationship between gender of the respondents and acceptance level on catering services. Sig.

Correlation between Gender and acceptance Level on Catering Services
.000 Interpretation: The factors above 0.5 are taken in to consideration for the decision making process. The factors are acceptance on allowing in general compartment, acceptance on wastage of water every day, acceptance on completion to purchase the same at an exorbitant, and acceptance on nonworking of fans. The passengers don't have awareness about safety measures provided by southern railway department. It shows that the railways will make the people aware about the various safety measures such as Railway Protection Force (RPF), Internet Protocol based Close Circuit Television (CCTV) surveillance system with video analytics and recording facility, Access control, Personal and baggage screening system, Bomb Detection and Disposal System etc.

Conclusion:
The study concludes that improving the quality of service is one of the ways to improve the competitiveness of Railway Passenger Business. In all the trains and at stations the above questionnaire can be used for collecting the feedback from passengers. According to the passengers they are dissatisfied with the online booking portals, first aid and medical services, power supply and quality of water of the trains, handling of theft cases that happens in the train, and occupancy of coach toilets by unauthorized vendors of railway department. These factors should be taken in to consideration for increasing the level of satisfaction of passengers in southern railways in future period of time.