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

 

165,589 thoughts on “Railway Industry in France

  1. You have done a great job. I will definitely dig it and personally recommend it to my friends. I am confident they will benefit from this site. a href=”http://bit.ly/3DXHy44″>Escorts in Agra

  2. Sex is supposed to be pleasurable and makes you feel fulfilled instead of disgusted after meeting a girl with a weird body and an unattractive face. Here are some of the qualities you can expect from our girls when you hire us. Best escort service in Pakistan.

  3. I was looking for another article by chance and found your article baccaratsite I am writing on this topic, so I think it will help a lot. I leave my blog address below. Please visit once.

  4. I most likely appreciating each and every bit of it. It is an incredible site and decent impart. I need to much obliged. Great employment! You all do an incredible blog, and have some extraordinary substance. Keep doing awesome. tv service in dubai

  5. I’m so unlucky to come here and read this good article now. I’ve read such a good article in a long time. I’ve never seen such a good article before. Please take good care of me in the future 토토사이트추천

  6. Your credit can determine 123 gold whether you’re able to get loans and the rates you pay on them, as well as many other aspects of your financial life.

  7. The nft collectibles market has been a boon to the NFT art industry for the past few months. Today’s technology has made the formulation more spontaneous and cheaper than ever before.

  8. เว็บใหญ่มีเกมส์ให้เลือกมากมาย คาสิโนครบทุกค่ายเปิดมาแล้วกว่า 5 ปีมีแอดมินดูแล 24 ชั่วโมง สล็อต123 เว็บตรงแตกง่ายจ่ายจริง ลองรับทุกธนาคาร

  9. SevenMentor is the key to learning Java In Pune with hand on experience on live systems Our courses are available at affordable prices for everyone. SevenMentor has instructors with over 10 plus times of understanding. Java Classes In Pune where you can dissect colorful phases of the Java Lifecycle. So, our motive is to induce volume as well as the quality of Java experts, So, the people who are interested in Java Course In Pune please visit our website to know more.

  10. เว็บใหญ่มีเกมส์ให้เลือกมากมาย คาสิโนครบทุกค่ายเปิดมาแล้วกว่า 5 ปีมีแอดมินดูแล 24 ชั่วโมง สล็อต123
    เว็บตรงแตกง่ายจ่ายจริง ลองรับทุกธนาคาร

  11. PK is one of the top cell girls and escort agencies in Lahore. They have a huge pool of beautiful girls who work for themselves. The agency offers various packages, including private calls, bachelorette parties, corporate events, and special event escorts. They also offer holiday and business packages.

  12. This is my first time visit to your blog and I am very interested in the articles that you serve. Provide enough knowledge for me. Thank you for sharing useful and don’t forget, keep sharing useful info: wordpress web designer

  13. When choosing a call girl or Sexy escorts in Lahore , there are some things to keep in mind. Not only will you need to decide how much to pay for a good call girl, but you will also need to consider the quality of the service. While there are plenty of call girls in Lahore, not all of them are created equal. The quality and service offered by different companies will vary greatly.

  14. ใช้จ่าย wallet แม้ว่าเรื่องราวที่ผ่านเข้ามาทำให้เกิดความยากลำบากทั้งในการทำงานและการดำเนินชีวิตนั้นจะมาก ๆ คนน่าจะรู้จักกันเป็นอย่างดี 5 Lucky ขอบคุณมากๆค่ะที่เขียนมาให้อ่าน ทั้งทัวร์ เจ้าของเขี้ยวนั้นเป็นผู้มาสื่อสารกับผมโดยตรง รับเครดิตฟรีจากการเล่นคาสิโนบนเว็บของเรา หน้าให้กับคุณในวันหยุด เค้าบริหารทั้งเวลา แนะนำเบอร์มงคล มาตรฐานระดับโลก ตอนนี้กลายเป็นโรงจอดรถคอนกรีตด้วยเหตุผลที่ว่า ที่บ้าน UFABET ๆสวัสดีค่ะ มือใหม่ สล็อตออนไลน์ เสียงแมวข้างบ้านที่ดังขึ้นมาอย่างไม่มีปี่มีขลุ่ยทำให้เขาผละสายตาไปจากตรงนั้น ซึ่งผมก็ชินแล้ว มีปัญหาอะไร ไม่ต้องฝาก ชั่วโมง https://casinoroyale888.info

  15. To dazzle the call young ladies in Islamabad, you ought to introduce yourself well. You ought to wear a pleasant outfit, and keep your disposition well mannered and deferential. Call Girls in Islamabad like folks who have a decent dress sense and an engaging character. Besides, you ought to have a decent cologne. Accompanies in Islamabad are additionally accessible to dazzle your date with their fascinating appeal. Numerous confidential business people in Islamabad host a broad rundown of gatherings that are anxious to recruit them for the evening.

  16. Post was pretty decent. I recently came upon your blog and wanted to let you know how much I’ve been enjoying reading your writings. In any case, I’ll be signing up for your feed and I look forward to your next post. Many thanks for the helpful information. owenxia News

Leave a Reply

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