Which passenger profiles for the high-speed line?

The profile of passengers using a high-speed line is broad: families, students, employees, tourists, etc. for work, study or leisure.
Feedback on high-speed rail is documented in the domestic transport orientation law (LOTI) reports, available on the LISEA socio-economic monitoring centre website). These reports quantify the socio-economic and environmental impact of major infrastructure projects three to five years after they are commissioned.

As part of the LOTI assessment of the Tours–Bordeaux high-speed line, two surveys were carried out to identify the main passenger profiles before and after the opening of the Sud Europe Atlantique (SEA) high-speed line between Paris and Bordeaux. (The surveys took place in September 2016 and March 2017.)

The results showed that:

• On the Tours–Bordeaux high-speed line, three out of 10 passengers used the TGV for leisure purposes.
• The 20–50 age group was the most represented (between 45% and 75%).
• Managers and professionals accounted for between 42% and 52% of passengers on the Paris–Bordeaux line before the Ouigo service reversed the trend.

Since the opening of the high-speed line SEA, SNCF has strengthened its commercial policy with an Ouigo offer. This new offer has changed the market share: a third of passengers use a commuter fare and two thirds use a leisure fare. In addition, the success of the Bordeaux–Paris line in terms of traffic and performance is encouraging new operators to create new services and thus new offers that appeal not only to managers but also to the general public.

Surveys on the profile of TGV passengers (commissioned by the French rail transport regulator, ARAF, in 2019) show the diversity of travel motives: 65% are mainly for leisure or personal reasons (holidays, weekends, visiting relatives), while 27% are for commuting purposes.

SNCF’s aim is to double this traffic over the next 10 years, in conditions that are accessible to all (general commercial policy, 25% Ouigo target).