Revitalizing the Indian Railways

(Present scenario: What can be done to improve the service?)

Service Management Assignment

Submitted by: Savita Soni Roll No: 13 EPGDBM-04

Ques1. Can you think of a service in India that can be similarly revitalized to provide outstanding service quality? Explain how this can be done after describing the service you have in mind.

Current form of service and evaluation:

Indian Railways: Passenger Service
Indian Railways (IR) is the state-owned railway company of India having a complete monopoly over the country's rail transport. It has one of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world, transporting over 5 billion passengers and over 350 million tonnes of freight annually. IR is also the world's largest commercial or utility employer, having more than 1.6 million regular employees on its payroll. Indian Railways operates 8,702 passenger trains and transports around five billion annually across twenty-seven states and three union territories (Delhi, Pondicherry and Chandigarh). The passenger division is the most preferred form of long distance transport in most of the country. Despite visible progress elsewhere, quality of rail services has deteriorated over the years to an extent that it now stinks; every which way you look at it. New Delhi railway station facade and 'facilities' were upgraded recently with almost a 1000 crore of public money spent on it. Go there any time of the day. Step into the premises and you would feel you are in an open urinal. Car parking is an unmentionable mess with only the fare collecting booths being manned. The rest looks like a bombed out place. Wonder where all the money has gone? Is this is the condition in the Capital state, the situation for the far off rural places can be imagined. What used to be the pride of the nation - Shatabdis and Rajdhanis - are now an unadulterated shame. Not only the maintenance standards and features inside the coaches, but the general upkeep is shocking. They have catering facilities and the area that joins two coaches is used as pantry and garbage dump and toilet and cigarette smoking area and all else. Midway through the journey, these sections would put a municipal dumpyard to shame with the smell emanating that is a mix of rotting food, urin and faeces. It's not just the junk generated by us, the indisciplined users, but also the catering attendants, who either junk it all right there or simply chuck it out of moving trains. The issues related to reservations and ticketing are talked about everyday in the news. Railway amenities and facilities cannot be improved with mere hike in fare and empty promises alone. It would need a complete overhaul of the staff training and even more importantly, improving their own efficiencies.

Evaluation Model: Supporting Facility

Are railway stations accessible by public transportation? Mostly not. Are they centrally located? No. Interiors and quality of railway stations. Platforms- not clean, chaos present. Waiting Rooms- not clean, not always available. Ticket Counters- queued up.

Type and age of trains- not in good shape, unclean. Cleanliness maintained- No

Facilitating Goods
Reservation and Ticketing- Not transparent, not easily available. Trains and their maintenance-cleanliness: Not maintained well. Food and catering: Complaints found.

Explicit Services Training of service personnel: Not up to mark. Comprehensiveness: Variety of services offered. Consistency - on time record: Variations found. Availability- 24 hr service? / Is there a website/Is there a toll free no?: Yes Implicit Services Attitude of service-catering personnel/ticketing department/front-liners/TT: Not positive. Atmosphere- sense of confusion rather than order Waiting-always found on ticketing Status-status available Sense of well being-not present Privacy and security-no security, incidents take place Convenience-highly inconvenient. Information Availability of information regarding tickets/reservation present.

What is required ?
Dimensions Attributes
1.Railway has modern looking equipment & infrastructure at stations and trains

2.Railways Physical Facilities like Lighting, seating and Toilets are OK

TANGIBLES
3.Staff of Railways are neat in Appearance 4.Time Tables, Display Boards etc are visually appealing 5.Railways are accurate in Record Keeping 6.Railways are accurate in timing of Trains

REALIABILITY

7.Railways performs Service Correctly 8.When you have problems Railways shows sincere interest in solving it

9.Railways adheres to punctuality of Trains 10.Railway staff are always willing to help 11.Railway staff tell exactly when services will be performed 12.Railway employees are not always willing to help 13.Emplyess of Railways are too busy to respond 14. The Railways are trustworthy 15. You feel safe in your travel

RESPONSIVENES

ASSURANCE
16.Railway Employees are courteous way 17. Employees are Knowledgeable 18. Railways give individual attention

EMPATHY

19. Railway operations are convenient to all passengers 20.Railway employees give personnel attention

21. Railway has your best interest at heart 22. It is easy to plan a railway journey

How to attain improvement?

Revenue management Strategic planning Revenue planning & forecasting Income allocation Competition modelling Fares & ticketing Policy & regulation Revenue protection Train planning Timetable development Net revenue/cost maximisation Demand & crowding Operational feasibility, resources & performance Rail operations Change, supply chain & project management Customer satisfaction Critical root cause analysis Service delivery & operations control Maintenance concept & strategy Stakeholder management Create and develop operating solutions to deliver wider policy or strategic objectives Forecast and understand future revenue Accommodate growing passenger numbers Plan timetables to maximize growth and revenue and minimize cost Assess infrastructure change including new stations, grade separation Attain modal shift Accommodate rolling stock change: modernization and electrification Produce winning franchise bids Improve operating performance

Ques2. Why will superior service work in India? What factors accelerate it and what will work against it?
Superior service will work in India for following reasons: PWC research estimates Indias retail sector to be worth 542.5 billion. With low organised retail penetration of 8%, modern retail is growing between 15 and 20% per annum. India is fast becoming an exciting and dynamic retail destination with opportunities in food & drink, FMCG and luxury space. India has a large pool of upwardly mobile middle-class. This amounts to 75 million households, 300 million individuals and 500 million Indians under the age of 25. Middle class consumers are well informed and want products that are value driven. The service sector accounts for more than half of GDP and thus taking it closer to the fundamentals of a developed economy. According to 2010 World Wealth Report by Merrill Lynch, the rise in the total number of Indian millionaires grew almost 51%, the second fastest in the Asia Pacific region. Analysts estimate that India's modern retail sector, which consists mainly of supermarkets and hypermarkets, will grow by 17 % a year for the next decade. The food service sector is predicted to grow by 6 -7 per cent a year. The food & grocery sector presents significant potential in the Indian market as consumer spending is highest on food. Retail of apparel, jewellery and accessories, consumer durables, catering services and home improvement retailers is a growing segment. India is expected to be the next hub of luxury retail. Supply Chain and Retail services are still not upto the international standards. The Government of India has introduced policy incentives to encourage investment in warehousing and supply chain services. Technical services such as IT solutions, insurance and banking services are other areas of growth.India has a large pool of IT experts, who with their expertise can leverage the global knowledge based sector. Real estate, Management, HR, Recruitment Consultants are other growing categories of service providers with niche market potential. Sports and Leisure; Sport goods account for 0.2% of the retail market (2.4 billiom), growing at 35-40% annually. Sport centres such as bowling allies, ice skating galleries etc are gaining popularity.

Supporting factors:
Economic liberalization/ Globalization / FDI: They have a highly positive impact on development of niche service sector. The quality of services has improved substantially. Global competition and increased demand for improvement in services has been major factors. Economic affluence: According to the NCAER study the size of the middle income consumer is raising fast and the percentage of the very poor households declining. The rural households in the upper income category are growing at a much faster pace than the urban households in the corresponding

categories. Their income as well as their expenditure has been pushed, creating a demand for many goods and services. Changing Role of Women: The percentage of working women has been growing rapidly. The changing role of women has created a market for a number of product and services Cultural Changes: The emergence of the nuclear family system in place of the traditional joint family system creates a demand for a host of services like education, health care, entertainment, telecommunication, transport, tourism and so on. There has been a marked change in the thought Processes relating to investment, leisure time perception and so on which has created a huge demand for services. I.T. Revolution: Increase in IT companies provided rise in employment and salary level. That caused increase purchasing level and demand for better services. Development of Markets: Urban India has become a cluster of wholesaling and retailing business. Retail of apparel, jewellery and accessories, consumer durables, catering services and home improvement retailers is a growing segment. India is expected to be the next hub of luxury retail. Health-Care Consciousness: This sector has attracted a number of quality services into the country. Foreign as well as domestic players have emerged into this and related field. (eg. Health insurance and healthcare services) Rampant migration: This has caused urbanization and change in lifestyle, thus change in income level and demand for improved services.

Adverse Factors
Price Sensitive market: India is a very price sensitive market and the players, especially the new
entrants have had to work out new innovative strategies to suit Indian preferences and budgets to establish a hold on the market and establish a niche market for them.

Political instability: This causes for lack of regulatory improvements which are very important as many domestic regulations and market access barriers could come in the way of fully tapping this growth accelerating sector. Infrastructure: Lack of adequate infrastructure denies possibilities. It acts as a disincentive to investment into services. Global economic instability: Global instability has impacted the Indian service sector adversely. There has been reduction in investment and limited flow of fund has hampered the growth of quality services. Talent shortfall: The gap is more on the quality side. This brings lack of innovation and new ideas and quality into services.

Policy related/Bureaucratic Controls/ Policy paralysis: This causes inhibition amongst the international players to invest in the country while domestic players are also affected by unnecessary controls and lack of policy reforms. These issues are related to: FDI, Tariff & tax related, Credit and finance related issues, Domestic Regulations, Market access issues.

Given the myriad activities in services, supporting its growth will require careful and differentiated strategies. The opportunities in this fast-growing, employment-oriented, FDI attracting sector, with vast export-potential are striking. However, the challenges are also many. Addressing these challenges and issues could further strengthen the services sector which is the driving force for India to realize double-digit growth potential, both overall and at state level, while providing more and better jobs to help achieve more inclusive and balanced growth.