The 20-minute daily sought to understand how the SNCF distributes its travellers between the different seats available at the time of booking.
Car 6, place 45, side window. Have you ever wondered why you sometimes land by car 6, sometimes by car 16? Why do you get a square or an isolated place? That’s what the newspaper wanted to know. 20 minutes through a survey on passenger distribution techniques in the trains .
Privilege client selection criteria
The manager of the central booking system of the SNCF Jérôme Barbeau explains that the company has a placement algorithm that is responsible for assigning each person the best possible place according to its selection criteria.
When booking tickets it is indeed possible to choose to travel on the window or corridor side, in the direction of walking or in the first or second class. However, the algorithm does not take into account all the criteria in the same way. Some are considered priority: the class or placement of persons with reduced mobility. Others will be respected to the extent possible according to the available seats.
The algorithm also favours secluded places for people travelling alone and tries to gather groups in squares.
Consolidate families of travellers
The SNCF also seeks to bring together the same type of passenger in the same car, with the aim of promoting the comfort of all as Jérôme Barbeau asserts. To avoid congestion during the train descents, the algorithm also carries out a “supoudrage” of passengers at the time of bookings to avoid overloaded cars or otherwise completely empty.
An algorithm that sometimes falls next to
Despite the rational calculations of the SNCF algorithm, many passengers complain that their essential criteria are not met. This is for example the case of large-sized people who find themselves stuck in a square or a vis-à-vis square without sufficient space for their legs. Should the SNCF add preferential options on its booking space? It would seem like so.
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