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

 

207,604 thoughts on “Railway Industry in France

  1. Positive site, where did u come up with the information on this posting?I have read a few of the articles on your website now, and I really like your style. Thanks a million and please keep up the effective work. pool companies in dubai

  2. I just couldn’t leave your website before telling you that I truly enjoyed the top quality info you present to your visitors? Will be back again frequently to check up on new posts. ps6

  3. Hey there are the use of WordPress in your website online platform? I’m new to the weblog world however I’m seeking to get started out out and create my very own. Do you require any coding information to make your private blog? Any help could be virtually preferred! DG真人

  4. You actually make it look so easy with your performance but I find this matter to be actually something which I think I would never comprehend. It seems too complicated and extremely broad for me. I’m looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it! 토토커뮤니티

  5. Spot on with this write-up, I actually feel this site needs a lot more consideration. I’ll more likely be once more to see much more, thank you that information. liveslot365

  6. Positive site, where did u come up with the information on this posting?I have read a few of the articles on your website now, and I really like your style. Thanks a million and please keep up the effective work. 스포츠토토

  7. This internet site is often a walk-through for all of the internet you wanted about this and didn’t know who to question. Glimpse here, and you’ll definitely discover it. vip188slot

  8. The the next occasion I just read a weblog, I really hope who’s doesnt disappoint me as much as that one. Get real, It was my solution to read, but When i thought youd have something intriguing to mention. All I hear can be a couple of whining about something that you could fix in case you werent too busy seeking attention. adobe crack

  9. I’d must talk with you right here. Which isn’t always a few element I do! I spend time studying a piece of writing that might get humans to feel. Also, admire your permitting me to comment! http://www.UFABET

  10. I’m always on the lookout for reliable sources of information about Cannabis . This website has become one of my go-to resources for accurate strain profiles and usage tips. Kudos to the team!

  11. Get Live Cricket Score Updates, Smartcric Scorecards, CricHD Live Cricket Streaming, Latest News, Schedule, Score, WebCric Streaming of all domestic and international leagues like PSL, IPL, BPL, BBL, World cup, Asia cup on CricMod. Click here for more cricket betting tips.

  12. We are the best and Unique producer of Super Undetectable Counterfeit Banknotes
    with over a billion of our products circulating around the world. We offer only
    original high-quality counterfeit currency NOTES.

    Check out more Buy Australian Dollars

  13. I hope it will be helpful for almost all peoples that are searching for this type of topic. I Think this website is best for such topic. good work and quality of articles Thanks barsatein Online

  14. That is the great blog for anybody who wants to hunt down out about this subject matter. You apprehend a lot its almost laborious to argue with you (now not that I certainly would need aHa). You undoubtedly put a latest spin on a subject thats been written about for years. Great stuff, really awesome! http://www.UFABET

  15. The Whizzinator Touch is a synthetic urine device that includes a prosthetic. The device is made up of an ultra-secure belt that goes around your waist and legs,synthetic pee

  16. IMADA, inc is dedicated to providing accurate measuring devices for every need. Some of the many high-quality instruments we manufacture are durometers. Durometers are important to the manufacturing sector due to their functionality in measuring the hardness of certain materials.How to choose the right durometer..,

  17. That is a really good tip especially to those fresh to the blogosphere. Simple but very precise information… Appreciate your sharing this one. A must read article.스포츠토토

  18. I’ve been using WordPress on a number of websites for about a year and am worried about switching to another platform. I have heard good things about 먹튀검증사이트. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it? Any help would be really appreciated!

  19. Beyond its visual appeal and space-saving attributes, a custom TV bed offers unparalleled comfort and convenience. Imagine lounging in bed after a long day, effortlessly raising the TV for a cozy movie night or lowering it for a peaceful night’s sleep.

Leave a Reply

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