FRANCE: National passenger operator SNCF Voyageurs is aiming to double ridership at its low-cost subsidiary Ouigo to 50 million passengers/year by 2030, and to increase Ouigo’s share of the domestic high speed rail market from 20% to 30%.
Setting out the operator’s ambitions on June 14, SNCF TGV-Intercités CEO Alain Krakovitch said 140 million passengers have travelled with Ouigo since the first services launched in 2013.
He said the introduction of a Ouigo service can bring a 20% increase in ridership to a route, and the brand is triggering modal shift as half of its passengers would not otherwise have travelled by rail.
Krakovitch said 50% of passengers pay under €30 and 80% less than €50, with the maximum price of a Ouigo ticket being €99.
Additional routes
Ouigo currently serves 60 stations. A Paris – Hendaye route is to be launched by the end of 2025, calling at Bordeaux, Dax, Bayonne, Biarritz and St-Jean-de-Luz. There will also be an additional daily return service between Paris and Rennes.
Planning is underway for the launch of a Paris – Lille service after 2026, along with additional services from Paris to Lyon and Montpellier. Routes which do not directly serve Paris are also being planned.
Fleet expansion
Ouigo currently operates 38 Alstom Duplex Haute Densité sets, and 12 more are to be transferred to the fleet in 2025-27 to enable the provision of 7 million more seats per year.
Of the 50 sets, 40 will be fully refurbished to the Duplex Tango standard.
Work on the first is to be completed in January 2025, with a full overhaul and the installation of new custom-designed interiors.
Ouigo executive manager Jérôme Lafon said capacity would be increased to 653 seats, each with USB points, with the luggage areas redesigned and space for eight bicycles. New windows providing better insulation will reduce solar heating of the train interiors.
The remaining 10 trainsets will undergo a light refresh and retain the current 634 seats.
Ouigo Train Classique success
The future of Ouigo Train Classique services which use conventional rather than high speed lines has not yet been decided, Lafon said.
Services from Paris to Lyon and Nantes which were launched in 2022 have proved a success, he said, carrying 2·5 million passengers/year at present. SNCF expects this to rise to 3 million passengers/year.
A service from Paris-Austerlitz to Rennes was launched in April 2024 and has also got off to a good start, he added.
