ExPretio
Enabling a More Competitive and Sustainable Passenger Rail Industry through AI-Driven Solutions
This article first appeared in the Railway-News magazine, Issue 2 2024.
Montreal-based ExPretio is leading the way in helping passenger rail operators increase revenues, offer more adapted products, be better positioned against competitors and have more accurate passenger forecasts.
Passenger rail operators face a myriad of challenges when it comes to optimising their capacity management and maximising revenues. Operational costs and unpredictable demand are hurdles that need to be overcome, as is increased competition for contracts. These pre-existing challenges are now exacerbated in a post-COVID era.
Furthermore, especially in Europe, the landscape is becoming increasingly competitive with new entrants to the market. In this evolving world, it is key for operators to put forward a diversified offer that caters to each passenger segment, ensuring they offer competitive products in terms of price and quality. Offering the right product to the right customer, at the right price, at the right time is the core of the revenue management practice. But, in the passenger rail industry, it is much more.
Improving Revenues and Competitiveness While Offering Attractive Products
AI-based software solutions in the realm of revenue management can help operators improve their competitiveness in a constantly evolving market by giving them a better understanding of passenger demand and adjusting their sellable products accordingly.
This is made possible through detailed analysis of bookings, forecast of demand and optimisation of product availability at the origin-destination (OD) level. By turning data into actionable insights, rail operators can anticipate and proactively adjust to demand patterns opening or closing specific ticket types for different trains, classes, routes, ODs and sales horizons. In the passenger rail industry, the combination of possible products is significantly higher than any others (such as the airlines or hospitality) and requires specific solutions and optimisation capabilities.