Abstract
Satisfaction and loyalty of passengers is important for a public transportation system provider especially if a competition exists between service providers. The factors affecting passenger satisfaction and loyalty must be determined by managers, operators, and decision makers. In this study, 900 passengers using High Speed Rail System between two cities (Ankara and Eskişehir) in Turkey were asked to rate their perceptions about the service they get. Their ratings are analyzed in terms of effects of factors on satisfaction and loyalty. The factors taken into consideration are service quality dimensions (which have ten sub-criteria), trust, perceived value, involvement, image, satisfaction and loyalty. Structural equation modeling is used to examine the direct and indirect relationships between these factors. Image is found effective on almost all factors analyzed: Perceived value, Trust, Satisfaction, Involvement and Loyalty. According to results, two important dimensions of service quality among ten dimensions came forward as most effective on satisfaction: Reliability and Interaction quality of personnel, which is found effective also on trust, satisfaction and involvement. On loyalty, the effective factors are found as perceived value, involvement, satisfaction and image.