Page 87 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 6

The rail traveller, pedestrian or customer?
Passenger flow and retail: critical boundary objects in HS Station development

retail development. A first part theoretical approach of the definitions of crowd and
flow management in railway stations is presented. Then, we will detail the physical
changes the transformations occurred in Gare du Nord between 2010 and 2017, before
(part 3) describing more generally the use of retail development as a technique of flow
management in railway hubs.

2. Traffic streaming and commerciality in France’s big stations:

2.1 The normative framework redefines the station operator’s role

Stations and the entities that operate them have undergone major institutional changes in the
last 20 years, in response to a European directive requiring the unbundling of infrastructure
operation from train operation (Riot E. 2014). Across Europe, station management is gradually
taken out of the hands of the historic national rail operators, and station operators must adopt
a position of neutrality towards the different rail operators that use their stations. In France,
the station operator is still entirely state-owned, but it prepares itself for this opening of
the market. Two third of its financiation comes fees paid by the regulated sector (for train
access to stations and for the use of station premises: ticket offices, technical premises…),
and one third of its income is earned from the leasing of retail space. This means that making
stations both attractive for train operators and profitable for retailers are two pillars of a
station development strategy.

Figure 2.A Gares & Connexions facts sheet and institutional transformation

Gares & Connexions : railway asset manager

- employs 3700 peoples (SNCF 125 000)
- manages 4000 stations

- welcomes 10 million visitors per day
- manages 2 millions square meters of railway public domain

Gares & Connexions : 2016 main results

- total activity : 1,2 billions €
- total fees earned from railway operators and retail: 590 millions € (48 % of total activity)

- 210 millions € invested in station regeneration projects

Gares & Connexions 2016 retail activity (deregulated revenues)

- leasing 180 000 square meters in retail

- earning 190 millions € in commercial fees

International Congress on High-speed Rail: Technologies and Long Term Impacts - Ciudad Real (Spain) - 25th anniversary Madrid-Sevilla corridor 85