Service Quality and its Importance for Rail Freight Customers

In the liberalised markets, service quality is the decisive factor that rail undertakings can use to create difference and achieve competitive advantages. The purpose of this study is to analyse the customer perceived service quality for rail freight transport and to highlight the important service quality gaps that must be dealt with in the process of market liberalisation. The analysis is based on the findings of the survey conducted by interviewing rail customers (shippers and forwarders) to understand their perceptions of rail service quality. The results of the research revealed that the widest quality gap relates to transit time which is perceived as the most important dimension of the operational quality of the freight services. It was identified that forwarders service quality perception is lower than that of shippers.