Will Le Train manage to overcome the numerous obstacles to competition in the high-speed train market?
With a legal framework ready, its railway authorizations and part of its financing, the company that wants to launch a regional high speed link in the Great West presents without a doubt the most advanced project among the actors that are starting from scratch and intend to compete with the SNCF TGV.
The truth is that the project has been significantly delayed, particularly because the administrative and technical obstacles are numerous, but above all because the company had to resort to new rolling stock (from the Spanish Talgo) while betting on the opportunities in its initial project. project.
“We met all the challenges”
Enough to alter your calendar and your economic model. In En Route Pour Demain on BFM Business, Alain Gétraud, CEO of Train, provides an update on the company’s upcoming launch.
Many operators, historic or new, We are looking of new trains for purchase, in order to reinforce or launch rail connections in Europe. This causes significant bottlenecks between manufacturers and, therefore, longer delivery times than usual, from 24 to 36 months.
Therefore, we should not count before 2025-2026 for a commercial launch, that is, 3 to 4 years after the initially planned date.
“Above all, the advantage of the new thing is that we were able to design it according to Le Train standards with a completely renewed passenger experience,” he says.
Space, Wi-Fi booster, bike transportation
“So there will be space, USB sockets, improved Wi-Fi and there will be space for 40-seater bicycles, it is a novelty on a high-speed train. You will be able to take your bicycle to go from Bordeaux to Rennes or from Bordeaux to Nantes and this point will differentiate us a lot”, continues the head of the company.
But it is above all through frequency that Le Train wants to convince. Although there is still no question of offering a high-speed RER, the company promises, for example, “ten frequencies a day” on certain routes, to serve as many passengers as possible. Because if the price continues to be an important element in the purchase of a ticket, the schedules are an equally determining criterion.
The purchase of new trains will not change the commercial focus of the offer, which will be aimed especially at young people, assures Alain Gétraud. “We have to turn a difficulty into an opportunity. Used equipment would have allowed us to be present much earlier, the choice of new ones is a more difficult asset to finance, but these equipment will last longer,” explains Alain Gétraud.
In fact, a new train depreciates over a much longer period, more than 30 years, which should allow the operator not to change too much its pricing strategy, which wants to be aggressive.
“Get the fairest price possible”
But as with its competitors, prices will not be fixed but will be subject to elements linked to supply and demand.
And he continues: “what we aim to do is have attractive prices, our strategy is to have the fairest price possible, it is an issue on which we have worked a lot.”
“We are also looking to simplify the booking system to have a seamless experience, it is a lot of work,” he continues.
The offer will be available through an internal online platform, but the company also wants to “be visible on other platforms such as Trainline and we would like existing operators to distribute it. We are campaigning and working for this. Also to be distributed by the platforms regional in the regions we pass through.
Source: BFM TV
