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Stage |
How do I know I’m here? |
What’s the summary? |
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Stage 2 - |
Demand continues to rise weekly with the lifting of travel restrictions and individual markets begin to show promise. |
You’re monitoring granular performance by market and identifying opportunities to actively drive revenue. |
This stage focuses on reacting to the new insights around the increase in levels of customer demand and ensuring you are ready to capture any revenue opportunities.
As more operators release more services, children go back to school allowing parents to return to offices, and consumer confidence increases with safety protocols in place, we begin to see more demand for peak journeys and a spread of demand across all flows. Rail operators should continue to monitor market changes and identify any new scenarios within their networks where recovery seems to be happening at a more rapid pace. This provides an opportunity to capture additional revenue and better serve customers with quick pricing strategy updates.
This stage will happen at different speeds in different Rail markets. Some variables to keep an eye-out for are more leisure or commuter-based markets and of course restrictions on lockdowns differing from region to region. Leisure will continue to grow as staycations and visiting friends and family will inevitably increase as restrictions are lifted. Commuter markets will also continue to increase, but you would be keen to keep an eye on shifting demand patterns within a day and within a week. Our research has shown that Friday travel patterns have shifted substantially as fewer commuters elect to travel on that day.
To capture this revenue opportunity, it is important that Rail operators stay close to market activity by interviewing passengers, closely monitoring booking reports/analytics and by reviewing competitor pricing. During this phase you should be acting as tactical as possible to ensure passengers are to opting for Rail as their mode of choice. Booking volumes will be on the rise, Rail operators and the Revenue Management team will have more of a steer on what their Revenue Management approach should be based and this is where the “New Normal” begins to take shape.
UK Rail Demand – The “New Normal”?