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Thevathasan, Amirthalingam; Balachandran, Balasingham --- "Love train? - Commuters' perceptions of train services in Melbourne" [2008] MonashBusRw 50; (2008) 4(3) Monash Business Review 30

Love train?
Commuters' perceptions of train services in Melbourne

Amirthalingam Thevathasan, Balasingham Balachandran

Amirthalingam Thevathasan and Balasingham Balachandranlook at commuters’ perceptions of train services in Melbourne.

What do Melbourne commuters really think about their metropolitan train service? This study looks at safety, comfort, service delivery, facilities, staff impact, ticketing and information and finds that satisfaction in the quality of service was lower during 2004–2006 than during 1998–2003. Customer perceptions must be taken into account when making decisions which have an impact on passenger services. Customer satisfaction in relation to crowding on trains or waiting times wasn’t examined in this analysis so further study is warranted to make more informed decisions about upgrading or improving the rail network.


Table 1Description of the Sample

Who was asked for feedback on their travel experience?


Table 2a Average Ratings for Train Service Attributes

Average ratings for questions related to service delivery, facilities and value for money have declined over the years whereas average ratings for safety issues have improved. Improving service delivery and facilities will enhance the perception of value for money.


Table 2Average Ratings for Train Service Attributes

Average ratings for questions related to service delivery, facilities and value for money have declined over the years whereas average ratings for safety issues have improved. Improving service delivery and facilities will enhance the perception of value for money.

Conclusions

Improvement on safety-related aspects and other aspects ranked lower by the commuters will help to improve the perception on overall satisfaction on the quality of the train service.

While there is no significant difference in satisfaction between males and females, we did find that satisfaction is stronger for youngest and oldest age groups than other age groups. Satisfaction is low for regular travellers and least frequent travellers while passengers who travel during peak time on weekdays showed significantly lower satisfaction also. Overall satisfaction is significantly lower during the period 2004–2006 than 1998–2003.

Although the majority of the responses hover between 4.5-5.5, (7 being the highest) respondents were still seeking improvement in service delivery and facilities.

Acknowledgement

We gratefully acknowledge comments and suggestions from Melissa Webb, Richard Bennell, John Vaz and participants at the 30th Australasian Transport Research Forum and also Vicky Tran for her computer skills, the Director of Public Transport for permission to carry out this study and the Public Transport Division of the Department of Infrastructure for providing the necessary Customer Satisfaction Survey data.

To view this academic paper in full, see www.mbr.monash.edu.au

Cite this article as

Thevathasan, Amirthalingam; Balachandran, Balasingham. 'Love train?'. Monash Business Review. 2008.; Monash University ePress: Victoria, Australia. http://www.epress.monash.edu.au/. : 30–31. DOI:10.2104/mbr08050

About the authors

Amirthalingam Thevathasan

Department of Transport, Victorian Government

Balasingham Balachandran

Department of Accounting and Finance, Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University


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