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

Marie Delaplace and Frédéric Dobruszkes

Transport Policy, 2015, vol. 38, issue C, 73-85

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: Low-cost airlines; High-speed rail; Low-cost high-speed rail; Intermodal competition; France (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2014.12.006

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