Fewer queues, faster service: how Momentum digitised Eurostar's onboard operation
Crew operations set the ceiling on onboard revenue
Momentum has been Eurostar's exclusive customer service and catering partner since 2000, delivering at-seat service in premium classes and the Cafe Metropole bar concept in Standard.
Its constraint was not the offer, it was the operation. Crew scheduling, training and communication across a cross-border network determined how much service could be delivered on any given train, and how much of the potential ancillary revenue was reachable. Load planning ran on forecasts rather than demand. Queues at the bar cost sales directly, because a passenger who sees a queue does not join it.
Momentum needed to reduce staffing cost per service, deliver more in the same journey time, and grow ancillary revenue, without compromising the standard Eurostar passengers expect.
About Momentum / Eurostar
Momentum has been the exclusive customer service and catering partner of Eurostar International since 2000, providing high-quality onboard service across all classes: Business Premier, Standard Premier, and Standard Class. Passengers enjoy at-seat service in premium classes and Cafe Metropole -Momentum’s onboard bar concept -in Standard Class, offering a wide range of products to suit diverse customer needs. Eurostar, the high-speed rail service connecting the UK to Europe, is renowned for its commitment to exceptional passenger experiences, operational excellence, and continuous innovation in rail travel.
"Over the past decade, digital technology and innovation have transformed rail operating systems and rail safety -from traffic management to track alignment. Now, Omnevo’s digital solution enables rail operators to deliver performance gains across the whole passenger journey, seizing new opportunities for greater efficiency, enhanced reliability and control, and higher revenue."
Digitalise the operation, in phases
Momentum partnered with Omnevo to digitalise the onboard operation, prioritising the areas with the clearest operational return and scaling from there.
- Crew scheduling and communication. Rostering, briefing and real-time communication in one place, so crew arrive informed and changes reach them.
- Load control and planning. Loading aligned to demand across the network rather than a standard uplift per service.
- Digital touchpoints for passengers. Pre-order and app-based F&B, so a passenger orders instead of queueing.
- Real-time performance monitoring. Sales and service data per train, per crew, available while it can still be acted on.
Commercial priorities
- Operational efficiency. Visibility of staff efficiency and F&B inventory across the network, to cut waste and markdowns.
- Omnichannel experience. One data view across the network, so the passenger journey is not broken by operational silos.
- Revenue and margin. Digital touchpoints that bypass the queue and convert demand the bar model loses.
More service delivered in the same journey
- Pre-order and app-based ordering convert passengers who would not have queued, with collection at the bar or delivery to the seat.
- Crew working from live rosters and briefings, with real-time performance data replacing after-the-fact reporting.
- Loading matched to demand across the network, reducing waste and markdowns.
- Service bottlenecks reduced, which lifts both sales and the passenger experience on a fixed journey time.
- [CONFIRM: one figure against the three goals named in the Challenge. Staffing cost per service, ancillary revenue growth, or orders per journey. Without one, the Challenge highlights the absence.]
[ACTION: customer testimonial needed from Momentum. The quote currently on this page is from Peter Coelho, Omnevo COO. Move it to a block labelled The Omnevo view in the meantime. Also remove predictive maintenance from any capability list unless it was genuinely delivered.]
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