"Its operation seemed too complicated for users, some have lost their bearings. We have undoubtedly underestimated this phenomenon", indicated Mr. Fanichet in an interview with Parisian.
"The launch of SNCF Connect was too abrupt, I regret it. The transition should have been more gradual".
Launched at the end of January, SNCF Connect merges oui.sncf (the commercial site) and L'Assistant SNCF (the information application, mainly oriented towards local travel).
“The operation of SNCF Connect will be optimal by the end of March,” promised the boss of SNCF Voyageurs.
"We have two hundred people on deck to fix bugs and add missing features."
2% of purchases made required contact with customer service, four times more than usual, and the number of support staff has been increased by 30%.
Users were especially unable to find their tickets reserved before the commissioning of the application.
"But the seven million tickets concerned have been transferred, none have been lost (...) This subject is behind us", assured the boss of SNCF Voyageurs.
There were also unreadable QR codes when arriving at the gate, and the default brightness was increased.
Other travelers were unable to dematerialize their discount card.
"We could not foresee everything. We carried out tests on 9,000 people, it is necessarily different with 66 million French people", explained Mr. Fanichet.
"There is a buzz, but you have to be indulgent and make allowances."
"But the launch of SNCF Connect is not a failure", according to Mr. Fanichet.
“We sold 10 million tickets in three weeks, we have 2.5 million daily visitors and the application has been downloaded 800,000 times!”.
On this Friday of vacation departures for zone C, reservations are "almost at the level of 2019" and three million French people will travel by train over the entire fortnight.
400,000 people are expected this weekend in Parisian stations, and 800,000 during the crossover next weekend.
© 2022 AFP