Abstract:
Railway is a major public transport mode in Sri Lanka. Currently, the payment for travelling in the train is made with cash at the station except for certain services such as bookings made in advance. With the current cash payment system, ticket purchasing and issuing have been identified as a substantial obstacle in providing an improved service. An electronic payments system was sought as a better solution to overcome this issue. The research problem of the present study was to investigate how a cashless payment system could be effectively implemented in Sri Lanka Railway (SLR) to make the payment via a Touch Travel Card System (TTCS). The objectives of the study were: to explore the elements of successful travel card systems implemented in the world; identify the critical factors affecting deployment of pre-paid travel card system in SLR; explain how these factors influence implementation of travel card system; and provide recommendations to respective stakeholders to successfully implement the travel card system in the country. To achieve the first objective, the TTCSs implemented in other countries were studied through literature analysis and the features and benefits available with these TTCSs were identified. A study was conducted in Colombo area to achieve the other objectives adopting a survey research approach. Pre-tested self-administrative questionnaires were used to collect the primary data from the selected stakeholders. Descriptive data and inferential statistical analysis was carried using SPSS software (Version 16.0) and the graphs were produced using MS Excel 2007. Result showed that, the passengers and SLR staff members agreed that there were some difficulties pertaining to the existing ticket issuing system and also identified the benefits and features expected from the proposed system. It was revealed that Perceived Usefulness is a major determinant of Behavioural Intention of both groups to use the proposed TTCS. Introducing a range of features and benefits for staff and passengers, ensuring the availability of suitable technology, availability of a systematic way of implementing the TTCS, and providing relevant training for staff are among the key recommendations drawn from the study.
