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From low-cost airlines to low-cost high-speed rail? The French case

par Delaplace, Marie;Dobruszkes, Frédéric
Référence Transport policy, 38, page (73-85)
Publication Publié, 2015

Article révisé par les pairs

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Résumé :

This paper explores OUIGO (pronounced ‘we go’), the low-cost high-speed rail (HSR) service launched by the French state-owned railways in April 2013. In this exploration, we: (1) compare OUIGO with the traditional French HSR and the low-cost airlines (LCAs), and (2) analyse fares proposed by OUIGO and its competitors. We thus analyse the new service in terms of production conditions, communication, marketing, booking, network geography, at-terminal and on-board experience and fares. We find that the railway industry’s constraints (including market regulations, technical rigidities and incumbent employment relations) affect the OUIGO business model, which appears as a hybrid between LCAs and traditional French HSR carriers, although fares can be very attractive indeed.