The cafe car is a conversion barrier
TGV Lyria operates high-speed services between France and Switzerland, on routes where onboard catering is part of a premium proposition rather than an afterthought.
The commercial problem was structural. Onboard sales depended on a passenger choosing to leave their seat, walk through the carriages and queue. That barrier filters out most spontaneous purchases, and it falls hardest on exactly the business and leisure travellers with the highest propensity to spend. Crew moving trolleys and orders through a moving train limited how much service could be delivered per journey, and demand signals arrived too late to inform loading.
TGV Lyria needed to align onboard sales with actual demand, give passengers more choice without adding crew workload, and do it across three service classes with genuinely different expectations.
About Servair & TGV Lyria
TGV Lyria operates high-speed rail services between France and Switzerland, providing a premium travel experience with a strong focus on sustainability and customer convenience. Serving key routes between Paris, Geneva, Zurich, and Lausanne, TGV Lyria is dedicated to continuous innovation in onboard services to meet evolving passenger needs.
Servair is a French airline catering company. It is subsidiary of Air France and Swiss catering company Gategroup. Servair has its head office in the Continental Square complex in Roissypôle, Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport and in Tremblay-en-France.
"We're incredibly proud to have launched the order-to-seat solution for TGV Lyria. We're committed to transforming the onboard experience through smart, seamless digital tools, not just for passengers, but for crew too."
Order from your seat, on any route, in any class
TGV Lyria and Omnevo have worked together since 2018. In 2025 the partnership added order-to-seat across all classes of service, delivered with Gategroup. Passengers browse the digital menu on their own device, order, and choose seat delivery or collection at the onboard bar.
The platform integrates with the onboard POS, so crew work from live inventory rather than a paper count, and stock visibility is shared between the train and the ground. Standard Class runs a click-and-collect model. Premiere and Premiere Signature passengers receive seat delivery, including gourmet meals designed by guest chefs.
The operational effect matters as much as the commercial one: fewer crew journeys through the carriages, and service time spent on delivery rather than order-taking.
2x onboard revenue
- Onboard revenue doubled since order-to-seat went live in 2025. Removing the walk to the cafe car captures the spontaneous purchases the previous model filtered out.
- Strong digital adoption from day one. Around 65% of travellers connect to onboard Wi-Fi, giving the platform reach across most of the train with no app download.
- More sales per journey. Passengers order when they decide to buy rather than when they can reach a counter, opening upsell and cross-sell at the point of choice.
- Leaner onboard operation. Live inventory visibility and fewer crew movements through the carriages reduce service friction and cut food waste.
- Seven years and counting. A partnership that started in 2018 with onboard retail now extends to digital ordering across every class, with loyalty earn-and-burn next.
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