The worldwide decline in railway transportation within the last five decades is not related to the lessening of carrying passengers and load. The need to carry passengers and load has been increasing and will continue to increase. The most important reason why the railways do not meet the increasing need to carry passengers and load is that it gives “a non-competing service”. In a sense, it has turned a blind eye to other transportation modes grabbing away its customers and probable customers. Nowadays, the superiority of transportation sectors over each other has been diminishing and this has made the transportation sectors to be more dependent on each other; hence, integration of transportation systems and combined transportation has gained importance. Within this context, railways have started to come into prominence. To reach the “New Railways Age”, the world's railways are passing through a process of significant structural change. Through this process, the position of the railways both within its own structure and within the transportation policies and its relationships with the state is being questioned and reorganized. The main purpose of the mentioned organizations is to relieve the railways from unnecessary state interventions which impede it from giving service, and to reduce the subsidies by increasing the efficiency of the railways through new transportation policies and institutional restructuring. The world has become a “Common Market”. The factor that has ensured the formation of this common market is the “Combined Transportation” system, formed by combining the best aspects of the sub-sectors of transportation. The main axis of this system will be “railway transportation”. The railways have up to now turned a blind eye to other transportation modes grabbing away its customers. But from now on it has to find ways to raise up the share of the railways within overall transportation, by defining new “railway marketing strategies.
The focal point of the marketing activities
The must requirement in increasing the share of the railways must be an approach “focused on marketing activities and customers” since on the world, globalization and competition are accelerating and production, distribution and consumption are getting integrated to each other. Escalating customer demands, local and global competition increase the pressure on the supply chain. This emphasizes the notions of speed, cost, reliability, quality and flexibility through all supply and distribution processes. Currently, the users of the transportation service are demanding competitive and effective transportation services with which they can convey their products at the appropriate time and place and with appropriate quality and price. The change and progress in the world markets has added a new dimension to the concept of marketing. Marketing approaches “focused on product” have been replaced with approaches “focused on customer”. With approaches “focused on customer”, establishments target defining the requests and needs of the customer, to ensure customer content, ad to make the customer a permanent one by establishing customer satisfaction and devotion. The focal point of the marketing activities is “creating value for the customer”. The combined transportation system can provide this opportunity. Especially with the contribution of the obvious advantages of freight shipment by rail over other transportation types, the competitive power of the system will increase. In the meantime, as a pleasing advance, it is being observed worldwide that in recent years there is a policy change in favor of the railways. Important investments are being made in the railways. Studies on customer trends and on the customer seeing the railway as a consistent partner have accelerated, as well as the infrastructure investment that have to made for the progress of freight shipment by rail. As we all know, liberalization is being established in the railways. This will release the monopolistic position of the railways, infrastructure and management will separate, opening the sector to competition. With this implementation, the will also be competition within the railway sector. Therefore, it is necessary that the railways start action now, develop permanent relationships with customers and give the service suitable to the demands of the customer. For this, it is an importance with priority that it gets to know and understand the customer and what the customer desires, and to develop marketing strategies in line with such desires. The railway sector, in order to increase its share in the market and in the combined transportation system and to exist in the market in the long term, must effect significant improvement in four subjects that are the most important for the customer: competitive prices, meeting customer needs, service reliability and the duration of the transportation.
Important advantages of railway transportation…
In addition, the railways have an important advantage being an environment-friendly transportation system. The transportation sector, which grows in parallel to globalization, besides its positive contribution to economic and social development, is the main consumer of non-renewable energy resources such as energy. The increasing considerations of environmental issues and the increasing role of the transportation sector in causing environmental pollution has led the way to significant changes in transportation policies. It is aimed to effect freight shipment through most sustainable means and the railway, which is the less environment polluting transportation type, is becoming the favorite of the logistics operators and the public. We must not neglect the factor of trained personnel who will make these advances in railways possible. We maintain that establishment of the newly “discovered” departments in universities of logistics, transportation, conveyance, rail systems and starting education, and the “awareness” of the young people who “feel” that their future and the future of the world lies in logistics and transportation is very pleasing. The contents of the training and education concerning transportation must be at a level that can educate human resources who can compete with the world. Those who have been trained and educated to be able to compete with the world will pave the road for this “young” transportation and logistics sector of Turkey.