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

 

205,776 thoughts on “Railway Industry in France”

  3. I am impressed. I don’t think Ive met anyone who knows as much about this subject as you do. You are truly well informed and very intelligent. You wrote something that people could understand and made the subject intriguing for everyone. Really, great blog you have got here. Used Lull For Sale

  10. best cryptocurrency platform in india

    hyy guys this side Inderjeet and I am going to discuss about Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual form of currency that uses cryptography for secure transactions, control the creation of new units, and verify the transfer of assets. It is decentralized and operates on a technology called blockchain, which is a distributed ledger that records all transactions across a network of computers. Unlike traditional currencies issued by governments, cryptocurrencies are not controlled or regulated by any central authority. This means that transactions can be made directly between parties without the need for intermediaries like banks. Cryptocurrencies are based on cryptographic principles that ensure secure and private transactions. Some popular examples of cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Lite coin, and Ripple. These digital assets can be used for various purposes, including online purchases, investments, money transfers, and even as ..

  12. I am impressed. I don’t think Ive met anyone who knows as much about this subject as you do. You are truly well informed and very intelligent. You wrote something that people could understand and made the subject intriguing for everyone. Really, great blog you have got here. Propane Company

  22. How To Add Binance Smart Chain To MetaMask, open the MetaMask extension and access the network settings. Click on “Add Network” and input the required details: Binance Smart Chain’s RPC URL and chain ID. After saving, you can seamlessly switch between Ethereum and BSC networks within MetaMask for decentralized finance transactions.

  23. best cryptocurrency platform in india

    hyy guys this side Inderjeet and I am going to discuss about Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual form of currency that uses cryptography for secure transactions, control the creation of new u nits, and verify the transfer of assets. It is decentralized and operates on a technology called blockchain, which is a distributed ledger that records all transactions across a network of computers. Unlike traditional currencies issued by governments, cryptocurrencies are not controlled or regulated by any central authority. This means that transactions can be made directly between parties without the need for intermediaries like banks. Cryptocurrencies are based on cryptographic principles that ensure secure and private transactions. Some popular examples of cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Lite coin, and Ripple. These digital assets can be used for various purposes, including online purchases, investments, money transfers, and even as a store of value..

  27. I am impressed. I don’t think Ive met anyone who knows as much about this subject as you do. You are truly well informed and very intelligent. You wrote something that people could understand and made the subject intriguing for everyone. Really, great blog you have got here. Homes For Sale

  28. This post is extremely radiant. I extremely like this post. It is outstanding amongst other posts that I ve read in quite a while. Much obliged for this better than average post. I truly value it! درمان خروپف

  31. I am impressed. I don’t think Ive met anyone who knows as much about this subject as you do. You are truly well informed and very intelligent. You wrote something that people could understand and made the subject intriguing for everyone. Really, great blog you have got here. AC Repair

  32. 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… Air Condition Repair

  33. WPS Office is a compelling free alternative to Microsoft Office for research proposals and PPT presentations. We highlight its seamless compatibility with Microsoft Office file formats, ensuring smooth document exchange. The user-friendly interface fosters easy adaptation for Microsoft Office users. WPS Office’s cloud integration feature enables convenient storage and access of documents across multiple devices. Furthermore, the suite’s multiplatform support ensures flexibility in usage across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. The free version offers a feature-rich experience, making it suitable for most users seeking a free download option. With regular updates and improvements, WPS Office remains a reliable and robust choice for research and presentations.

  35. Lịch Trực Tiếp Bóng Đá Mới nhất —– Link Xem Bóng Đá Trực Tuyến full HD tại đây – Xem Lại Kết Quả Bóng Đá Soccer Live

  38. Took me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the article.
    280 remington I’ll often be once again to read much more, thank you for that information.

  39. I was impressed with the site that you created, so memotipasi many people to be more advanced, there also kunjugi me, as a comparison Anwalt

  41. This is a great inspiring article.I am pretty much pleased with your good work.You put really very helpful information. Keep it up. Keep blogging. Looking to reading your next post. jimdosite.com

  42. No modern office building in most major cities of the world can afford to exclude summer air conditioning from their premises. Air conditioning provides the necessary environment that is conducive to good working conditions. Jun88

  43. Extremely pleasant article, I appreciated perusing your post, exceptionally decent share, I need to twit this to my adherents. Much appreciated!.  토토오션

  44. It was a decent post to be sure. I completely delighted in understanding it in my lunch time. Will definitely come and visit this blog all the more frequently. Much obliged for sharing. 스포츠토토

  50. I needed to thank you for this incredible read!! I unquestionably adored each and every piece of it. I have you bookmarked your site to look at the new stuff you post. 메이저놀이터

Leave a Reply

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