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

 

164,987 thoughts on “Railway Industry in France

  1. Customers can also contact Air Canada’s customer service for further assistance in managing their bookings. Overall, Air Canada Manage Booking feature simplifies the process of making changes to a flight reservation and provides travellers with the flexibility they need to ensure a smooth travel experience.

  2. Great job for publishing such a beneficial web site. Your web log isn’t only useful but it is additionally really creative too. There tend to be not many people who can certainly write not so simple posts that artistically. Continue the nice writing สล็อตออนไลน์

  3. Great job for publishing such a beneficial web site. Your web log isn’t only useful but it is additionally really creative too. There tend to be not many people who can certainly write not so simple posts that artistically. Continue the nice writing 출장안마

  4. The the next occasion I read a weblog, Lets hope so it doesnt disappoint me as much as this. I am talking about, I know it was my choice to read, but I personally thought youd have some thing intriguing to say. All I hear is a lot of whining about something you could fix if you werent too busy trying to find attention. 역삼동안마

  5. 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. cairnhill 16 condo

  6. I was very impressed by this post, this site has always been pleasant news Thank you very much for such an interesting post, and I meet them more often then I visited this site. qqmacan com

  7. This particular is usually apparently essential and moreover outstanding truth along with for sure fair-minded and moreover admittedly useful My business is looking to find in advance designed for this specific useful stuffs… Dogs behavior

  8. Here is very much want the most impressive sparkle terrific. Each one of these moderate areas are meant by means of selection of makeup foundation curiosity. I love individuals much. 출장안마

  9. Aw, i thought this was most definitely a good post. As part of deemed I have to make a note of similar moreover > slacking and additionally valid working hard to generate a exceptional article… and yet exactly how do While i say… My husband and i waste time nowadays without being even the least bit could go sorted out. 메이저놀이터

  10. A decent blog dependably concocts new and energizing data and keeping in mind that understanding I have feel that this blog is truly have each one of those quality that qualify a blog to be a one. huawei p smart 2021

  11. Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with extra information? It is extremely helpful for me oppo a15

  12. I do not know if it’s just me or if everyone else encountering issues with your site. It appears as if some of the written text within your content are running off the screen. Can somebody else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them as well? This might be a problem with my browser because I’ve had this happen before. Cheers outboard motors for sale

  13. Excellent post. I was always checking this blog, and I’m impressed! Extremely useful info specially the last part, I care for such information a lot. I was exploring this particular info for a long time. Thanks to this blog my exploration has ended. kontol pendek

  14. prostadine was created to put you once and for all in these prostate problems prostadine is the only natural supplement on the market in a drop form

  15. Hello I am so delighted I located your blog, I really located you by mistake, while I was watching on google for something else, Anyways I am here now and could just like to say thank for a tremendous post and a all round entertaining website. Please do keep up the great work.สล็อตเว็บใหญ่

  16. Thank you because you have been willing to share information with us. we will always appreciate all you have done here because I know you are very concerned with our.

  17. Thank you because you have been willing to share information with us. we will always appreciate all you have done here because I know you are very concerned with our.

  18. Pre-employment health checkups play a crucial role in ensuring workplace safety. By assessing job candidates’ health and identifying any pre-existing medical conditions, employers can mitigate potential risks in the workplace. Additionally, these checkups can help prevent workplace injuries and reduce absenteeism, which ultimately benefits both employees and employers. Employers who prioritize Pre Employment Health Checkup demonstrate a commitment to creating a safe and healthy work environment, promoting employee well-being, and reducing healthcare costs.

  19. Thank you for another great article. Where else could anyone get that kind of information in such a perfect way of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I am on the look for such information. dark web links

  20. TroxusMobility Know that buying an electric bike can make your life a little easier. According to estimates from the experts at Rad Power Bikes, you can save up to $7,409 in a year by trading in your car for an electric bike for your daily commute. The Troxus Mobility can reach a speed of 45km/h.

  21. This is a great article thanks for sharing this informative information. I will visit your blog regularly for some latest post. I will visit your blog regularly for Some latest post. plombier bruxelles

Leave a Reply

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