How to manage a 100 percent increase in rail travel

Abstract

A new era begins for the trains in the 1990s. As in most European countries DSB (The Danish State Railways) will introduce new and faster trains. It will also build a bridge/tunnel over the Great Belt to compete with the cars, buses, and aircraft. With the introduction of the IC3 train in 1990, DSB took the first step towards a new train system which will result in considerable improvements for passengers. At the same time, costs will be significantly reduced. In the year 1993, the new Great Belt bridge/tunnel will be opened to railway traffic. When the connection opens, the whole character of the InterCity traffic in Denmark will change. All in all, DSB expects a 100% increase in the number of InterCity journeys between East and West Denmark in 1994 compared to today. In planning for a major expansion of the travel market, it is very important not only to focus on the trains and infrastructure but also on the distribution system. By distribution system we mean how the customers get information, make a seat reservation, buy a ticket, and get other services. The paper gives a short description of IC3 and discusses the expected effects on competition and the number of travellers by train. Furthermore, the paper will give a short description of the Great Belt project and tell how DSB intends to use this opportunity to create a complete new train travel concept guided towards new customer groups (e.g. business travellers and people normally using their own cars). As the main point in the paper we give a description of a new sales system called ROSA (the Danish acronym stands for Reservation, Information, Sales, and Administration). We stress the importance of evaluating the different customer groups and their need for services in different travel situations in order to put the different sales channels in order of priority in the future.