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

 

207,800 thoughts on “Railway Industry in France

  1. Great write-up, I am a big believer in commenting on blogs to inform the blog writers know that they’ve added something worthwhile to the world wide web!.. Ligaciputra

  2. My programmer is trying to convince me to move to .net from 토토사이트. I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less.

  3. Stahlwandpool

    Bei uns finden Sie bei der großen Auswahl an verschiedenen Größen, Formen, Farben und Mustern mit Sicherheit der passende Stahlwandpool. Unsere Germany-Pools produzieren wir hier in Deutschland selbst. Profitieren Sie daher von in Deutschland gefertigten, hochwertigen Qualitätsprodukten sowie einer riesigen Auswahl an unterschiedlichen Modellen und Ausführungen. Auch für Schwimmbäder in Sondermaßen sind wir dank unserer eigenen flexiblen Produktion Ihr kompetenter Ansprechpartner. Gerne erstellen wir Ihnen Ihr persönliches Angebot.

  4. Gartenpool

    Gartenpools als Komplettset oder rund inkl. Skimmer Durch seine selbsttragende Konstruktion aus qualitativ hochwertigen Materialien wie feuerverzinkten Stahlblechen und Bauteilen sowie witterungsbeständigen und UV stabilen Kunststoffsteher und Handläufe besticht der Gartenpool Set als Kompletset.

  5. Stahlwandpool

    Wir produzieren unsere Germany-Pools selbst außerdem auch in Deutschland. Unsere hochwertigen Stahlwandbecken bieten wir in einer riesigen Auswahl an Größen, Formen, Farben oder Mustern an.

  6. Adres kısıtlamaları ile alakalı olarak gelişmeleri hızlı bir şekilde takip Betluxor eden sitemiz giriş linkini anlar içerisinde değiştirerek sizin kesintisiz olarak hizmet almasını sağlamaktadır.

  7. Sizler için aktif hizmet sunmuş bulunduğumuz sitemizden hızlı şekilde Maltbahis hem üye olabilir hem de giriş yapılabilirsiniz.

  8. I’ve been looking for photos and articles on this topic over the past few days due to a school assignment, and I’m really happy to find a post with the material I was looking for! I bookmark and will come often! Thanks 😀 먹튀신고

  9. Türkiye piyasasında kısıtlamaların bulunduğu düşünüldüğü takdirde üyelerin Gorabet bu konuda birtakım kaygılara sahip olmasını son derece olağan karşılamaktayız.

  10. I really enjoy simply reading all of your weblogs. Simply wanted to inform you that you have people like me who appreciate your work. Definitely a great post. Hats off to you! The information that you have provided is very helpful. buy flunitrazepam

  11. Uzun yıllardır bahis piyasasında lider bir şekilde hizmet veren Onwin giriş sitesi 2021 yılında da aynı şekilde çalışmalarını sürdürmektedir.

  12. I am happy to find your distinguished way of writing the post. Now you make it easy for me to understand and implement the concept. Thank you for the post. dankwoods

  13. Sitemiz ana sayfasında tespit edilen giriş linki vasıtası ile hem Betamara mobil adresi hem de bilgisayar gibi bütün cihazlarından oluşturulan giriş adresine ulaşabilirsiniz.

  14. Bu Bahis şirketleri ise bahis kategorilerini ve miktarlarını en alt civarda Jüpiterbahis tutarak bahisçilerin beklentilerine karşılık verememektedir.

  15. Farklı bir sıradaki bütün rakamları topladığınızda ise gene bir çinko bulmuş olursunuz. Baycasino Bütün rakamları topladığınızda ise tombala yaparsınız ve büyük ikramiyeye ulaşırsınız.

  16. Ovalpools

    Ovalpool kaufen komplettset als Bausatz zum selber bauen ohne Beton Platte freistehend Ovalpool guenstig Set im Pool Shop bestellen winterfest Angebot Ovalpools Bausatz oval aufstellen eingraben im Garten Stahlwandbecken.

  17. Oynanış kolaydır. Belirli bir vakit içerisinde bahis yapmamız bekleniyor. Lesabahis Ekranda zeplinin çıkış konusunu görmekteyiz.

  18. Grafik standart borsa grafiklerine çok daha hızlı şekilde yükselir alçalır. Şunu belirtmek isteriz ki, Huhubet kimi vaktinizi 0 katına kadar çıkarma ihtimaline erişirsiniz.

  19. Sky naite is a travel and lifestyle bloggger; sky naite travels the world with a passport in one hand and a camera in the other. Sky naite goes to all of the worldwide destinations and reports back the truth so that the rest of the world can live through sky naites pictures and articles. visit skynaite.com for the best travel blog on the internet
    sky naite celebrity

  20. Domain linki kullanıyoruz. Ve sitemizin ana sayfasındayız. Maltcasino Bu sekmeye tıkladığımızda, karşımıza oyun ara yüzü çıkıyor.

  21. Thank you so much for the post you do. I like your post and all you share with us is up to date and quite informative, i would like to bookmark the page so i can come here again to read you, as you have done a wonderful job. Click here to learn more

  22. We offer a broad range of horse supplements, making it easier for you to find the combination that suits the unique needs of your horse. Because your horse’s body faces different demands and challenges throughout the year, you may consider altering some of the horse supplements that you feed, to compensate for changes in exercise, your show/trail schedule and the climate. Whether you are correcting a nutritional imbalance with multi-vitamins, maintaining joint health, or bringing calm and focus to your ride, we strive to find the most effective horse supplements for you.
    Buy Horse Medication Online USA

  23. Siteye giriş yaparak mobil Tv için bilgi alabilirsiniz. Sahabet Yani canlı Tv özelliği ile spor kanallarını da izleyebilirsiniz.

Leave a Reply

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