OUIGO Boosts Passenger Satisfaction and Revenue with Digital Infotainment Platform

OUIGO: France's low-cost rail reference

OUIGO is France's leading low-cost high-speed rail operator, serving 23 million passengers per year across 40 destinations with 60 trains per day. As a SNCF subsidiary built around accessible pricing, investing in an onboard entertainment and rail passenger experience platform represented a significant strategic shift. One that accelerating competition made necessary.

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The challenge: competing on experience, not just price

In 2019, French rail opened to competition. A year later, Trenitalia launched services from Paris and Lyon to Milan, the first time a foreign operator competed directly with SNCF on a high-speed line. For OUIGO, the arrival of Trenitalia was a trigger.

The operator had launched 6 trains already equipped with connectivity in 2020, but 32 trains in the fleet remained unequipped. Bringing connectivity to the full fleet represented a heavy investment. OUIGO's requirements were precise: validate passenger demand, confirm profitability, then decide on full fleet rollout.

The brief covered two paid offers to be monetised directly onboard. OUIFI providing internet access, and OUIFUN providing an entertainment catalog with movies, press, podcasts and books. No project at OUIGO gets greenlit without confirming the investment is profitable. This proof of concept had to answer that question.

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The solution: a platform built jointly in 4 months

OUIGO selected Moment over competing providers for three reasons: an extensive, constantly renewed content catalog built in partnership with OUIGO, a platform accessible from all passenger devices, and an agile mindset to deliver a new service fast.

The onboard entertainment platform launched in July 2020 across the initially equipped trains. The content catalog included more than 100 videos, 50 press titles, 20 podcasts and 10 games, accessible from any passenger device via the Wi-Fi portal onboard.

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The deployment ran in 4 months under three simultaneous constraints: a tight delivery deadline, 100% remote organisation during the first Covid lockdown, and a complex technical structure involving 4 actors — OUIGO France, Moment, and two additional partners for payment and hardware.

48 trains equipped in 4 months. The deployment covered the full OUIGO France fleet and confirmed cost-effectiveness within the proof-of-concept window.

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The results: investment validated, NPS up, repurchase up

The POC confirmed all four objectives.

Investment validated. The proof of concept confirmed the cost-effectiveness of the project and justified the decision to equip all 48 OUIGO France high-speed trains with connectivity and onboard entertainment.

Passenger satisfaction increased. Since deployment, the Net Promoter Score has increased on equipped routes, reflecting a measurable improvement in the onboard passenger experience.

Repurchase rate improved. OUIGO observed a higher rate of return bookings on routes where the platform was deployed, particularly on the Paris-Lyon route, which is also the most contested by competing operators.

Incremental revenue generated. Moment's low-cost model significantly increased the incremental revenue share from onboard digital services, directly supporting OUIGO's commercial strategy to maintain competitive ticket pricing.

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What OUIGO says

Nicolas Launay
Product Manager at OUIGO France

"Wi-Fi and entertainment are important components of OUIGO France's growth strategy. This package of services should create additional revenues that will allow us to maintain attractive prices on train tickets. Moment is more of a partner than a service provider. We moved forward together on a project with ambitious goals."

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A model for low-cost rail operators

The OUIGO deployment shows that onboard digital entertainment and train Wi-Fi monetisation are not reserved for premium operators. A low-cost carrier serving 23 million passengers per year can build a profitable digital platform that improves NPS, drives repeat bookings, and generates ancillary revenue without compromising its core pricing model.

For rail operators evaluating a similar project, OUIGO's deployment across 48 high-speed trains in 4 months provides a concrete reference point.

The full case study covers the technical architecture, the commercial model and the detailed deployment timeline. Download below.

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Running a similar project for your rail fleet? Our team can walk you through the architecture and the business model. Contact us.

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