Revenue Management in the railway industry in Japan and Portugal : a stakeholder approach

Revenue Management (RM) is the process of managing the sales of perishable assets by controlling price and inventory so as to maximize profit. It was developed in the late 1970s after the deregulation of the US airline industry, and has enabled the US airline industry to increase its revenue by offering dynamic prices associated with demand. Many academic articles have understandably focused on applications to the airline industry. This thesis deals with the application of RM to the railway industry. The railway is considered the most energy-efficient mode of transportation, and its role has become increasingly important around the world with ever growing concerns about the global energy crisis and climate change. Implementing an RM strategy for railways is expected to contribute to a significant lessening of this environmental burden by making better use of the existing railway infrastructure. Furthermore, it is not only advantageous for the railway operators, but also for the passengers who can benefit from discounted tickets. In fact, several countries have already introduced RM to their railway systems. However, the results have not always turned out as desired and the goals set out by the policy makers have not always been achieved.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Abe, Itaru, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Joseph M. Sussman.

• Technology and Policy Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40382

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/40382