SERVICE MARKETING

INDIAN RAILWAY
NAME: AJAY R PRAJAPATI
ROLL NO: 76

INDIAN RAILWAYS

INTRODUCTION
Railways were first introduced to India in 1853. By 1947,
there were forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the systems were
nationalized, thus Indian Railways, becoming one of the
largest networks in the world.
Indian Railways has 1,20,000 km of total track over a route of
65,000 km and 8000 stations. It has the world's fourth largest
railway network after those of United States, Russia and
China.
The railways carry over 30 million passengers and 2.8 million
tons of freight daily. It is the world's 2nd largest commercial or
utility employer, by number of employees, with more than
1.36 million employees.
Indian Railways operates long distance and suburban rail
systems on a multi gauge network of broad, meter and narrow
gauges.

STP
Segment: Commuters, Medium-Long distance passengers,
Freight customers, Parcels & Express Freight customers

Target Group: Businesses who need freight transportation,

Passenger transportation sector

Positioning: One of the largest and busiest rail networks in

the world

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTH

Availability of abundant low cost land near country stations

provides possibility for
development
Less damage of goods compared
to other modes of transport
Better connectivity across the
length and breadth of India
More carrying capacity of goods

 Largest commercial employer with almost 1.5 million staff

It transports over six billion passengers and almost 750 million
tons of freight annually
Approx. 120,000 km of tracks and nearly 8000 stations

WEAKNESS
Passenger sector is loss making
Accidents and delays cause a dent to the image

Facilities not comparable to international standards still

OPPORTUNITIES
It can capture large chunk of container traffic by introducing
block container trains operating at passenger speeds
Its 70% of revenue and most of its profits comes from freight
sector and there is a tremendous growth in emerging companies,
hence has a great future for freight sector
Operating ratio has been decreasing drastically in last 10 years

THREADS
Increase in allowable gross weight of road vehicles
Possible introduction of double road trailers

High accident rates

7 PS OF MARKETING
Product : Duronto Express, Shatabdi Express and Janshatabdi
Express, Garib Rath, Superfast Express, Express and Mail
trains, Passenger and Fast Passenger, Suburban trains

Price: Pricing strategies are based on the following categories

Consumer goods
Age based pricing
Quantity based pricing

 Place:
SR. No

Name

Route KMs

Divisions

Central

3905

Mumbai, Bhusawal, Pune, Solapur, Nagpur

East Central

3628

Danapur, Dhanbad, Mughalsarai, Samastipur,

Sonpur

East Coast

2572

Khurda Road, Sambalpur, Visakhapatnam

Eastern

2414

Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol, Malda

North Central

3151

Allahabad, Agra, Jhansi

North Eastern

3667

Izzatnagar, Lucknow, Varanasi

North Western

5459

Jaipur, Ajmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur

Northeast Frontier

3907

Northern

6968

Delhi, Ambala, Firozpur, Lucknow, Moradabad

10

South Central

5803

Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Guntakal, Guntur,

Alipurduar, Katihar, Rangia, Lumding, Tinsukia

Nanded, Vijayawada
11

South East Central

2447

Bilaspur, Raipur, Nagpur

12

South Eastern

2631

Adra, Chakradharpur, Kharagpur, Ranchi

13

South Western

3177

Hubli, Bangalore, Mysore

14

Southern

5098

Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Palakkad,

Salem, Trivandrum(Thiruvananthapuram)

15

West Central

2965

Jabalpur, Bhopal, Kota

16

Western

6182

Mumbai Central, Ratlam, Ahmedabad, Rajkot,

Bhavna gar, Vadodara

 Promotion :
Indian Railways promotes new services through the website
(www.indianrail.gov.in) and banners & hoardings at stations.

Advertisements through television. It promotes the launch of various

schemes targeting different sections such as tourists, students, daily
travelers.

Luxury trains such as Palace on Wheel, the Deccan Odyssey, the

Fairy Queen etc. have packaged tours over many cities which are
becoming very popular today amongst the rich and foreign
tourists.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is the

subsidiary of Indian railways that handles catering, tourism and
online ticket operation in India.

 People:
The recruitment to the railway cadre is done through the Civil
Services Examination
Every year Indian Railway recruits more than 100000
employees in various departments and offices in Railway
services at different posts such as junior staff, Upper
management, Grade C & D and many others.
Process:
Computer reservation system of IRCTC enables
reservation request from anywhere in the country through
all-major computerized reservation system.
Direct booking and also passes are available
IRCTC making every effort to constantly redefine service
procedures to enhance service satisfaction levels.

 Physical Evidence:

Railway has modern looking equipment & infrastructure at

stations and trains
Railways Physical Facilities like Lighting, seating and Toilets
Time Tables, Display Boards, etc. are visually appealing
Catering facilities

GAP ANALYSIS

 KNOWLEDGE GAP

Customers seek
Ease of ticketing, Refundable, on time arrival and
departure, hygiene and good food, cheaper fares,
safety

STANDARD GAP

Bathroom facilities are not up to the standards

Loose Berths (seats)
Waiting rooms not properly maintained
Inadequate fans and electrical

 DELIVERY GAP
Timings Delays of trains
Unclean linen
Food
No water in Bathrooms
No hygiene

COMMUNICATION GAP
Helpline numbers do not get through
Improper information on train delays
Most of the users are not confident to book tickets online

 TECHNICAL GAP
Customer fail to login due to some technical issues most of
the time
Due to slow response rate their transaction does not
succeed. Money gets debited from the account but the
ticket is not booked
There are too many payment options which confuses them

The number of pop up ads make the user to go to other

travel sites like yatra.com or makemytrip.com to check the
availability of seats.

 OTHER GAP:
Lack of security arrangement on the railways resulting in theft
and dacoities, etc.
Political pressure and interference is a very big problem which the
Indian Railways are facing with increasing impact

SERVICE IMPROVEMENT
Food Quality
& Variability

Service
Quality

Hygiene

Analysis of food quality & variability through mystery audit and passenger
questionnaire.
Hire efficient vendor in delivering the food products in trains.

Evaluation of staff behavior , appearance and service quality through mystery

audit and passenger questionnaire.
Proper evaluation of online service provided by the IRTC.

An audit of food preparation area ,storage area ,waste disposal area and
serving equipment's.
An unbiased feedback on personal hygiene standards maintained by the
staffs and food handling and serving practices followed by the vendor.
Periodically keep check on hygiene level in trains ,stations, etc.