SNCF - France's National Railway Company

SNCF is France's national railway company and one of Europe's largest rail operators. With its passenger division SNCF Voyageurs, serving approximately 168 million passengers every year, SNCF operates three major long-distance services — TGV, Intercités, and Ouigo — connecting passengers across France and six European countries.

At the heart of SNCF's commercial performance sits the Revenue Management & Pricing (RMP) center: a team of around fifty analysts responsible for managing the daily yield of approximately 700 train routes. Their work directly influences the profitability and load performance of one of the most extensive rail networks in the world, powering more than €20.8B in revenue (as of 2025).

We spoke with Apolline Thibaudeau (Revenue Management Analyst; perimeter: Paris–Zurich), Vincent Legras (Revenue Management Team Manager; perimeter: Alpes, Bourgogne and international regions France-Switzerland & France-Italy), and Yann Vaglio (Lead Revenue Management Solutions & Data) to understand how CAYZN has transformed the way their team works — and why it marked a true turning point for SNCF's revenue management operations.

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The Challenge: Team Efficiency Held Back By Legacy Tool

Before adopting CAYZN, SNCF's RMP team relied on an in-house yield management tool that had grown increasingly difficult to work with. Day to day, the technology itself became a bottleneck — holding back analyst efficiency, constraining revenue growth, and standing in the way of scaling the team's impact:

• Outdated Interface, Cumbersome Workflows: The legacy tool's interface — built on a non-web-based application — was outdated and hard to navigate, adding UX friction to tasks analysts performed repeatedly throughout the day. Navigating between trains, extracting data, and implementing actions all required more clicks and workarounds than they should have — leaving analysts working around the tool rather than through it.
• Limited Analyst Efficiency: With approximately 700 routes to manage daily across multiple markets and geographies, the team needed to monitor and act on a large number of trains simultaneously. The previous tool made this difficult, resulting in slower and fewer actions taken per analyst, limiting ultimately how much of the portfolio they could actively manage.
• Repetitive, Low-Value Tasks Limiting Strategic Focus: Without powerful automation capabilities, analysts spent a significant portion of their day on manual, repetitive tasks — adjustments that were necessary but added little strategic value. This left less time for higher-level analysis and yield decisions that truly drive performance.
• Limited Data Access & Quality: Extracting the data needed for analysis was cumbersome, and the information returned wasn't always presented in a way that made decision-making fast or intuitive. Key metrics weren't surfaced where and when analysts needed them, and data quality issues meant they often had to second-guess what they were seeing — eroding trust in the system and slowing down decisions that should have been straightforward.
• Slow System Performance: The system struggled to handle large volumes of data reliably, leaving analysts unable to react to market signals in real-time. Slow load times and lagging updates meant pricing decisions were made on already outdated information — directly impacting revenue capture and constraining further scaling.

The Solution: An Intuitive, Real-Time RMS Built for Propelling Analyst Impact Beyond Limits

When SNCF selected CAYZN, the decision reflected a clear need: a tool that could match the scale and ambition of one of Europe's largest rail operators, while being intuitive enough to be adopted quickly by a large team of analysts.

"When CAYZN was chosen, it was truly a major step forward for us."— Yann, RM and Data Applications Manager, SNCF

The choice was driven by several factors that directly addressed the team's day-to-day challenges:

• Intuitive interface, simple navigation: A modern, clean and user-friendly design that makes it easier to access information, take action, and stay oriented — even when managing hundreds of trains simultaneously. A single-screen RM cockpit brings everything into one view — from service dates over ODs to legs, while shareable links make it easy for analysts to work in parallel and collaborate seamlessly.
• Powerful automations: The Business Rules Engine and Quick Actions enable analysts to offload repetitive, low-value tasks by “pseudo-codifying” decision rules that run automatically across hundreds of trains at once. Despite a vast range of variables, the BRE remains simple to use, giving analysts virtually limitless automation possibilities without the complexity — freeing them to focus on higher-level analysis and yield decisions that drive revenue.
• Decision-ready data: An integrated macro view delivers a high-level overview of business performance, while a powerful data extractor lets analysts pull large volumes of data from the system at any time. Combined with consistently high-quality data, the right metrics are surfaced at the right moment — giving analysts the trustworthy foundation they need to make confident calls, with no second-guessing and no toggling between tools.
• Real-time at scale: Real-time data from the inventory system is fed directly into CAYZN, giving the team an always-current picture of demand across their network. Built on a reliable, scalable architecture, the platform keeps pace as data volumes grow and the team's ambitions expand — without compromising speed or stability.

"Actually, it improves so many aspects of speed—shorter response times and a system that’s nicer and more responsive.” — Yann, RM and Data Applications Manager, SNCF

A Simpler Way of Working: Driving Analyst Efficiency At Scale

“With the arrival of CAYZN there are so many contributions that are beneficial for our day-to-day operations, efficiency and ease-of-use.”— Vincent, Revenue Management Team Manager, SNCF

The most immediate effect of switching to CAYZN was a significant increase in the volume of actions SNCF's analysts could take each day. With a faster, more responsive interface and clearer data presentation, analysts could monitor more trains and implement more changes in the same amount of time.

"We've adopted a tool that's truly intuitive, with a user-friendly, efficient interface that has allowed us to significantly increase our volume of outputs, enabling us to monitor more trains and implement more yield actions."— Vincent, Revenue Management Team Manager, SNCF

Automations That Free Analysts to Think Strategically

One of the most significant operational shifts brought about by CAYZN is the ability for analysts to automate a large portion of their routine tasks — particularly through the Business Rules Engine and Quick Actions.

"The advantage I can see as a manager is that analysts can offload a large portion of repetitive tasks with low or medium value-added, to save time and focus on higher-value-added tasks. So, overall, that's a significant efficiency gain."— Vincent, Revenue Management Team Manager, SNCF

Quick Actions especially allow analysts to apply specific pre-defined changes across multiple trains simultaneously — a capability that delivers meaningful time savings when managing a fleet of hundreds.

Data That Works the Way Analysts Think

The data environment inside CAYZN was designed with true business use cases in mind. For the SNCF team, this means having tables with the right KPIs, and filters that work the way analysts need them to with query times that stay ahead of even the busiest workdays.

"The data is well organized. It's already tailored for business use cases, meaning I have tables with fields that are exactly what I need — fields I can filter directly to get the data I want or to calculate the metrics I need."— Yann, RM and Data Applications Manager, SNCF

CAYZN also raised the bar on data quality and completeness. For SNCF, having reliable, decision-ready data means analysts can trust what they see, and act without second-guessing—while fast query times keep the workflow fluid even at scale.

“And then, indeed, there’s comprehensiveness and overall data quality, as well as efficiency in query times. It’s true that on a day-to-day basis, CAYZN really does make our work much easier thanks to the different views.”— Yann, RM and Data Applications Manager, SNCF

A Simple UX Built to Maximize Yield

Instead of forcing analysts to adapt to rigid structures, CAYZN structures information around the questions they need to answer every day in one single interface. Key metrics are surfaced in context, so analysts can move to action-taking immediately without needing to jump between multiple screen views, exports, spreadsheets, or tools.

That clarity is also reinforced by stronger visualization: signals are easier to spot, and comparisons are easier to make, with a system that supports above all decision-making for better yield outcomes across the whole network:

“With CAYZN, we gain a lot in terms of visualization, and it contributes to all those little decision-support modules that help us maximize yield on a daily basis.”— Yann, RM and Data Applications Manager, SNCF

One Screen for Legs & ODs: A Genuine Game-Changer

One of the capabilities that stood out most to the analyst team was CAYZN's clear display for leg and OD views. For a network as complex as SNCF's, being able to analyze fill rates at both levels on the same interface without the need to switch screens — quickly and clearly — changes how analysts approach their daily decision-making.

"As an analyst, I'll want to analyze my fill rate by leg. I'll also want to analyze my fill rate at the OD level. And CAYZN lets you see both quite clearly. That really changes things for analysts." — Yann, RM and Data Applications Manager, SNCF

Fast Implementation, Immediate Adoption

SNCF first deployed CAYZN in 2021 on their in-house inventory system, ResaRail. The transition was notably smooth — both in the lead-up to the go-live, as well as in the weeks that followed:

”The transition was relatively quick, before switching to CAYZN, as well as during and after the switch.” — Vincent, Revenue Management Team Manager, SNCF

For a team of fifty analysts who rely on their tools to manage several hundreds of trains every day, rapid adoption was essential. CAYZN’s learning curve proved short enough that the team was productive almost immediately, without disruptions to their operations.

"Personally, I'd say it took just a few days to really get the hang of it. It's quite intuitive and user-friendly, so we picked it up pretty quickly."— Apolline, Revenue Management Analyst, SNCF

A Long-Term Partnership Empowering Analysts’ Day-to-Day

Beyond the product itself, SNCF's experience with Wiremind has been shaped by the quality of ongoing support and documentation:

"What we've noticed is that you're very responsive. We always get a response within the same day. From our perspective as a client, we're satisfied with the support we receive when we encounter an issue, a bug, or have a question."— Yann, RM and Data Applications Manager, SNCF

The team also highlighted the quality and upkeep of CAYZN's documentation as a standout element of the overall experience — reflecting Wiremind's commitment to keeping clients informed and empowered as the platform evolve:

"The documentation — and we can tell there's a real effort being made to keep it maintained, up-to-date, and accessible — is excellent."— Yann, RM and Data Applications Manager, SNCF

Beyond day-to-day support, SNCF’s teams also highlighted the value of CAYZN’s annual user groups as a space for shared learning and continuous improvement — shaping ultimately the product roadmap through direct feedback:

“We were really impressed by the quality of the organization and the richness of the workshops.” — Yann Vaglio, Lead RM Applications & Data, SNCF

Key Features Used by SNCF

• RM Module: Primary one-screen interface for a complete, real-time overview of the train portfolio — including OD and leg views that provide clear fill rate and revenue analysis at every level.
• Calendar View: Helps the team manage their yield strategy across the full fleet by providing a clear overview of all upcoming service dates.
• Alert View: Automatically surfaces trains that require immediate attention, so analysts can prioritize their time effectively.
• Activity Logs: Provide a full trail of actions taken on each train throughout its lifecycle, supporting accountability and continuity across the team.
• Business Rules Engine (BRE): Available in both classic and Quick Action formats, the pseudo-code workflow creator with more than 1000 variables enables SNCF analysts to automate repetitive adjustments and to run yield management continuously — saving a significant amount of time compared to manual processes.
• Quick Actions: Allows analysts to apply pre-set specific actions across multiple trains simultaneously, dramatically reducing time spent on routine tasks and freeing capacity for strategic analysis.
• Extractors: Enables powerful, flexible data exports in bulk for performance reporting and management dashboards — a key feature for both analysts and managers.
• Live Reporting: Real-time data feed on global bookings and the revenue made the moment they occur.

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