Frost & Sullivan: Rail operators' mobile presence develops easier ticket purchasing methods. However, mobile ticketing has not quite taken off with some customers, who prefer to use familiar ticket procurement methods even if they are less convenient or involve more effort.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. – Travel and purchasing patterns of rail users globally are extremely dynamic in nature. Even though rail systems in the same geography are subject to similar environments, they tend to show hugely different ridership patterns as several social, economic, political and technological factors determine patronage.
A new database from Frost & Sullivan, Strategic Dashboard of Global Rail Passenger Volumes, provides passenger volume metrics for 538 rail operators in 2013. Key figures such as passenger volumes, total passenger movement in passenger kilometer, revenues from rail tickets, and the minimum, maximum and average ticket price have been included in the database. In addition, detailed parametric modeling has been utilized to estimate the sales channel split based on social and economic factors as well as rail performance indicators.
“Mobile ticketing is rail transport’s newest offering, which is quickly gaining presence and boosting passenger volumes,” said Frost & Sullivan Automotive & Transportation Research Analyst Shyam Raman. “With the growth of application stores and the use of personal computing devices such as tablets and smartphones, rail operators across the globe have been pushed to increase their mobile presence.”
However, mobile ticketing has not quite taken off with some customers, who prefer to use familiar ticket procurement methods even if they are less convenient or involve more effort. This, along with server crashes and the lack of Internet access is dampening the adoption of mobile ticketing.
“Rail operators will have to strategize to deal with resistant customers in order to popularize mobile ticketing,” advised Raman. “They must also address server-related issues to support this endeavor.”
Strategic Dashboard of Global Rail Passenger Volumes is part of the Transportation & Logistics Growth Partnership Service program. Frost & Sullivan’s related studies include: Executive Analysis of the Global Rail Industry 2014, Opportunity Analysis of the Eastern European Rail Market: A 360-degree Perspective, and Strategic Analysis of Light Rail Transit in North America. All studies included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.
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