First Great Western tracks ticket sales

Revenue management creates targeted discounts to ease overcrowding

Rail operator improves visibility

Rail operator First Great Western is using revenue management software to track ticket sales across all routes and reduce overcrowding on its busiest services.

The software collects ticket sales and reservation data to determine the most productive means of selling tickets at different times.

By analysing historical data First Great Western can offer different ticket pricing to maximise profitability on both the most popular and underused routes.

The goal was to increase demand for off-peak services through targeted discounting, control demand for peak services and spread demand between standard and first class, says First Great Western fares strategy and yield manager Chris Brock.

‘The system bolts on to our reservation system and gives us better visibility of what is being sold and at what price,’ he said. ‘If a train is quiet we can offer more discounts.’

‘We can now sell tickers at the right price to meet supply and demand and control overcrowding.’

First Great Western has reported a 13 per cent increase in overall journeys using tickets priced using the system, a 38 per cent increase in revenue, more than 100,000 extra journeys in first class and reduction in overcrowding on key services.

‘Our customers are getting better value and more discounted seats in the right place,’ said Brock. ‘We’ve noticed a rise in customers booking earlier for the best deals and a significant increase in sales via our web channel.

‘The next step is to build up sufficient historical data so that the system can automatically set discounts and respond more quickly to fluctuations in demand.’

First Great Western was the first company to trial the Rail Inventory Management System from JDA Software.