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

 

182,544 thoughts on “Railway Industry in France

  1. You’d outstanding guidelines there. I did a search about the field and identified that very likely the majority will agree with your web page. metatrader

  2. One of the great things about online gaming is its wide-reaching appeal; children, casual gamers, and adults from all backgrounds can all find something they enjoy playing in its vast library of unblocked games 76 games.\ unblocked games 76

  3. We these days would love to express i always was initially contemporary that will page apart from doubtlessly popular your blog page. In all likelihood I’m related to to search for your websites. Consumers without doubt comprise amazing happenings. Perfect chooses just for getting with us your websites. course in miracles

  4. magnificent publish, very informative. I’m wondering why the opposite specialists of this sector don’t realize this. You should proceed your writing. I am sure, you’ve a huge readers’ base already! change your mindset

  5. Wow, What a Excellent post. I really found this to much informatics. It is what i was searching for.I would like to suggest you that please keep sharing such type of info.Thanks unblocked games roblox

  6. I enjoy reading it. I fundamental to learn more on this subject.. Thanks for the sake theme this marvellous post.. Anyway, I am gonna subscribe to your silage and I wish you post again soon. LIV PURE REVIEWS

  7. While Homeworkify offers valuable support, it’s important for students to use the platform responsibly and ensure their work reflects their own understanding. Homeworkify

  8. In conclusion (not final section), staying informed about the current gold rate in Pakistan is crucial if you’re considering buying or investing in this precious metal. By understanding how these this site rates are determined and keeping an eye on influential factors both locally and globally that affect them will empower you with knowledge needed for making informed decisions.

  9. perangkat lunak perjudian juga membantu menjaga keamanan informasi pribadi anda. Oleh karena itu, bergabung dengan situs Judi Online Terpercaya adalah sangat penting untuk memastikan Anda selalu bermain dengan perangkat lunak terbaik dan terpercaya yang tersedia di pasar.

  10. Holistic Doctor Dallas
    At Splendor of Youth, Dr. Francisco, a Dallas physician and certified holistic & functional medicine practitioner, provides a conventional and alternative approach to combat pain, restore wellness, and promote a well-balanced lifestyle. By using herbal medicine and ongoing health coaching he is able to provide you with a unique approach to comprehensive care.

  11. AI technologies use techniques such as machine learning (where computers learn from data and improve their performance over time), neural networks (inspired by the human brain’s structure), natural language processing (enabling computers to understand and interact in human language), and robotics (integrating AI into physical devices). undress AI tools

  12. AI is adept at solving complex problems, often involving large amounts of data or intricate variables. It can analyze patterns, make predictions, and generate insights. undress AI tools

  13. I’d like this content content articles, Help to make valued, I’d choose a lot more data by using this, great deal of thought is particularly appealing., Bless a person created for composing. exploited vulnerability

  14. 格安データ復旧料金

    ハードディスクのデータ復旧が格安の料金10,000円!容量20GB以上なら定額コースの19,800円!NASも同じ値段!大手よりもhdd修理価格が相場よりもお安くなっています。大切なデータであれば、何とかしたいと考えることでしょう。それがHDDデータの復旧サービスです。大切なデータ復元はお任せ下さい

  15. Thankyou just for writing an exceptionally worthwhile page, Lake developed onto your web page apart from know certain write-up. I will be interested appearance with writing… course of miracles

  16. Instantly this web site will irrefutably frequently end up being notable regarding all weblog consumers, due to diligent reviews as well as checks. Pedicures

  17. My spouse and i like your content. It is usually good to watch any individual make clear throughout words and phrases over the heart as well as lucidity just for this important matter could possibly be speedily witnessed. Salon services

  18. I was suggested this blog via my cousin. I’m not certain whether or not this post is written by way of him as no one else understand such exact about my trouble. You are incredible! Thank you! buy followers

  19. A very awesome blog post. We are really grateful for your blog post. You will find a lot of approaches after visiting your post. I was exactly searching for. Thanks for such post and please keep it up. Great work rv refrigerators

  20. Pengalaman kasino online yang mendebarkan. Dengan beragam permainan untuk dipilih, tidak pernah ada momen yang membosankan.Grafiknya luar biasa, dan gameplaynya halus dan intuitif.Dari Game Slot Pragmatic dengan tema yang lebih modern, selalu ada sesuatu untuk semua orang.

Leave a Reply

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