by

Railway Industry in France

TGV 1

1. Industry Overview:

In France, one of the most popular transport modes is train.  SNCF is France’s national railway, providing high speed, overnight and local services in France and beyond into Spain, Switzerland and Italy.

>> http://www.tgv-europe.com/en

Types of Train in France:

01-TGV

02-Lunea

03-Teoz

04-TER

06-Intercites

Railway industry is quite similar to airline industry, as it sells seats for a transport from an origin to a destination. The price depends on journey, class, and date of booking. Thus, railway industry can be placed in Quadrant 2, where its service has variable prices for a predictable duration. This industry also has the appropriate characteristics to apply revenue management strategies. Those characteristics are:

– Inflexible capacity: the number of seats on a train is fixed

– Variable and uncertain demand: the demand is different depending on the time of day, day of week, origin-destination pairs, and purpose of travel

– Perishable inventory: the unoccupied seat cannot be inventoried, and the revenue of that seat is missed

– Low marginal cost and high production cost

– Product can be sold in advance

– Heterogeneous customers with different segments, varying by age, purpose of travel, independent or group, etc.

However, there are some differences that make the revenue management of railway industry is little bit different than that of airline industry.

– More difficult to forecast demand and to have the accurate number of travelers on a service: no check-in procedure, open tickets (rail pass) generally allow passengers to travel on any rail service, walk up tickets are very common (a large number of passengers purchase their tickets on the day from the station)

– Less difficult to deal with overbooking: passengers are often allowed to stand during train journeys hence increasing capacity beyond the number of seats

———

 2. Space

Railway industry defines space implicitly.

Normally, a train has two classes: Economy (2nd Class) and Comfort (1st Class). The seating options and services are different for each class. The price is same for different seating options in a class.

 Economy Class:
01-Class2
 Comfort Class:

01-Class 1

Trains, especially TGV has “TGV bar”, which provides a wide selection of meals and sweet snacks available for purchase. Additionally, the TGV bar offers films on DVD, magazines, games for children, Paris Metro tickets, even USB sticks for purchase. There is also a rolling snack cart that comes to the customers’ seats.

01-TGV Bar

For additional revenue, TGV offers Premium service includes 1st Class seat, meal service, and access to the TGV lounge at the train stations.

Personally, I would charge difference fares for different seating options in each class. A group will want to pay more to have a Club 4 seat. A couple will want the Duo seat or Club 2 seat. And an individual traveler will want a solo seat. As the number of seat are fixed, we can charge for each option, rather than a “first comes first served” policy.

I’m also thinking about a mini-cinema on train, especially overnight train. Normally, the overnight train have load factor less than 80%, so the train can use one car to transform into a mini-cinema with a projector and a screen. When the train is busy, the car will be transformed in normal guest car again.

——

3. Time

Railway industry defines time implicitly.

Although the duration of a journey is determined, the railway industry sells a journey rather than specifically selling time. In addition, there may be issues that cause the increase/decrease in duration of the journey.

However, the railway industry also tries to sell time explicitly with the Rail pass. With Rail pass, customers can have unlimited travel on the national rail network of France for a fixed number of days. The choices are 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9-day pass within a one-month period. Travel days may be used consecutively or non-consecutively.  Thus, the fare becomes rate-per-day, not anymore rate-per-trip.

>> http://www.raileurope.com/rail-tickets-passes/france-pass/index.html

The industry can sell time explicitly by providing Rail pass with weekly or monthly unit. However, I think it will not be effective as it makes the demand forecasting much more complicated.  Half-day unit won’t make sense as a trip is normally more than 3 hours.

——–

4. Price

Tickets can be purchased 60 to 120 days in advance depending on the route.

Ticket discounts are based on advance purchase, availability, and certain restrictions. Everyone is eligible to receive discounted fares by purchasing an Economy or Comfort class ticket in advance. Youth and seniors can enjoy specific discounts as well. Discounted tickets are available for youth (under 26 of age), seniors (age 60 and over) and children (generally ages 4-11) but should be verified with each product.

Price at 1 week before departure
01-Price-1st class-10AM-1wk

Price at 2 weeks before departure

01-Price-1st class-10AM-2wk

Price at 3 weeks before departure

01-Price-1st class-10AM-3wk

Price at 4 weeks before departure

01-Price-1st class-10AM-4wk

Normally, prices are reduced for 1or 2 week-advanced purchase, slightly reduced for 3-week-advanced purchased, and stay same for more-than-4-week-advanced purchase.

The physical rate fences are the classes:
01-Booking-Class

 

The non-physical rate fences are age, season ticket, and loyalty

01-Booking-Rate Fences-1

01-Booking-Rate Fences-2

01-Booking-Rate Fences-3

01-Booking-Rate Fences-4

As the rate fences are now already too sophisticated, I would rather consolidate these fences than create new fences to confuse customers.

 

(-Thao Ly)

——–

References:

http://www.raileurope.com

http://www.tgv-europe.com

http://www.sncf.co.uk/

Amstrong and Messneir, 2010. Railway revenue management: Overview and Methods

Schroeder, Braun, and Schnieder. Revenue management in the railway industry

 

167,989 thoughts on “Railway Industry in France”

  1. The article is really good. I found here looking for a good article because my heart was empty. There are a lot of different articles, so reading them makes me feel a bit empty. Next time I want to read an article about 토토사이트, please

  9. To clean mildew and mold effectively Nigoal from walls and grout, Joyce suggests that you mix a solution of one part bleach to three parts water.

  18. I am not sure where you’re getting your info, but great topic. I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding more. Thanks for fantastic information I was looking for this info for my mission. pijat panggilan

  19. Very efficiently written information. It will be beneficial to anybody who utilizes it, including me. Keep up the good work. For sure i will check out more posts. This site seems to get a good amount of visitors. how to get weed in the uk

  20. Online Learning – Effective Training For Employees
    Job and career training is crucial for most employees in most companies and industries. It not only benefits the employee but also benefits the organisation in the form of higher production and increased job satisfaction for the employee.
    However, when budgets are under strain companies generally look for the easiest ways to trim costs. Training, being expensive and not always given the importance it deserves, is often one of the first things to get cut.
    This is where e-learning and online courses come into their own. They offer cost-effective options for companies that recognize training is important but still need to cut costs. By implementing online training programs, companies are able to reduce their training expenses whilst still providing essential training for their employees. The result is a win win situation, both for employees and for the company.
    Online Learning Delivers Flexibility And Cost Savings
    The flexibility of e-learning training systems allows employees to learn at their own pace and convenience. It also reduces travel-related training costs, including lost productivity caused by employees taking time away from their job to travel to training.
    When training can’t be completed in one sitting, students can quickly pick up right where they left off the next time they log in. They can review and go back over anything they don’t understand at any time, and work at their own pace.
    These options usually can’t be accommodated in a classroom setting. Therefore, students may get left behind and finish the course without fully understanding everything they’re supposed to have learnt. That is both ineffective and unsatisfactory.
    Custom Or Industry Specific Online Courses
    Online training comes in many forms. It can be customized or purpose-built to suit specific company requirements. Alternatively, it can be ‘off the shelf’ if the company only requires generic training. Training in how to use particular commercial software programs would fall into this category. It may be industry specific and require accreditation by an industry body. Online fire fighter training courses such as Fire Inspector, Fire Officer, Fire Investigator etc come under this heading.
    Online Training Allows Better Evaluation Processes
    At the end of most online courses, quizzes and performance evaluation sections provide companies with feedback about the training process and individual performances. This information can be evaluated to assess where there might be weak points in the training program, or where an employee may need more training.
    Course participants usually have the chance to redo the quizzes and evaluation sections. The software behind the training program ensures they won’t ever be asked the same questions again, thus providing fresh data sets each time.
    Career And Job Training Is Important
    At the end of the day, training an employee properly is critical for the success of any organisation, regardless of size. Trained employees are effective employees who have the ability to contribute positively to the bottom line. They’re generally also happier employees, more likely to stay with the company longer and thus repay the investment made in them.

  21. THE SYNTHETIC BEAUTY IN K2 LIQUID SPRAYS FOR SALE Spice & K2 Welcome to K2liquidspray.se! We’re a synthetic drug online shop where you can get your hands on liquid incense filled with THC-like effects. Our K2 is made from 100% natural cannabis plant and comes in easy-to-use sprays for a next-level yet undetectable experience. We carry your favorite California Dreams, Bizarro, Aloha, and other incense products. With proven K2 formulas, they deliver the effects that only the best synthetic marijuana can deliver. They are a go-to choice for experienced users and are sold without restrictions. Shop now and meet synthetic power in all its glory! buy quality herbal incense online

  30. I’m impressed, I must say. Actually rarely can i encounter a weblog that’s both educative and entertaining, and without a doubt, you may have hit the nail for the head. Your notion is outstanding; the pain is an issue that not enough people are speaking intelligently about. We’re very happy i always found this during my find some thing concerning this. check it out

  35. The new era of deposit and withdrawal systems must be fast and convenient. No need to inform sleep to be confused. No need to notify deposits and withdrawals anymore. 789ai develops an auto system that is extremely fast, only 1 second. 789ai

  36. I’ve truly absolutely suitable motivated for making getting some sort of web site, which i retail store also been far inferior to attempt to complete for only a bit with. Acknowledges for this show, it is serviceable! https://www.hotmail.com

  38. I’ve truly absolutely suitable motivated for making getting some sort of web site, which i retail store also been far inferio r to attempt to complete for only a bit with. Acknowledges for this show, it is serviceable! https://www.hotmail.com

  39. Truly, this article is really one of the very best in the history of articles. I am a antique ’Article’ collector and I sometimes read some new articles if I find them interesting. And I found this one pretty fascinating and it should go into my collection. Very good work! recipes with chicken mushrooms

  40. This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I love seeing blog that understand the value of providing a quality resource for free. haus on handy

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *