The European high speed train operators Deutsche Bahn, SNCF, SNCB, NS Hispeed, OBB, SBB and Eurostar UK and the high speed subsidiaries Thalys, Lyria and Alleo revealed the actual formation of…
The European high speed train operators Deutsche Bahn, SNCF, SNCB, NS Hispeed, OBB, SBB and Eurostar UK and the high speed subsidiaries Thalys, Lyria and Alleo revealed the actual formation of Railteam – its aim to offer travellers seamless high-speed train travel across international borders in Western Europe.
A framework for a quality network of high-speed rail services, Railteam will make international services, in particular connecting services, easier for travellers. International travellers will benefit immediately from the first services of Railteam.
The growing high speed rail network will triple between now and 2020. However, despite the continuing growth of the high speed rail network, many international travellers are unaware of the benefits of using high speed rail as an alternative to air or road.
Railteam will focus on this European network of high speed lines and will help to change the perception that international cross border travel by rail is difficult. This is from the point of booking to arriving refreshed and relaxed at their destination whether on a business or leisure journey. Within the network, the clients can already experience a premium quality centre to centre service with high levels of comfort, punctuality and reliability offered by high-speed services such as ICE, TGV, Eurostar, Thalys and TGV Lyria.
Thanks to Railteam these brands will be joining forces and further facilitate cross-border travel across Europe’s high-speed rail network.
To help travellers connect more easily, multi-lingual information will be available on both onboard trains and in the stations. In the first stage, Railteam information points will be installed in the five main hubs (Brussels, Cologne, Lille, Frankfurt and Stuttgart) and in the coming months information points will be opened in other major stations such as London, Strasbourg, Amsterdam and in the main high-speed train stations in Paris. The partners will also work on a further improved co-ordination of departure and arrival times.
From today, if, for any reason, passengers miss their connection because of a late running service, Railteam will ensure they are on the next available train, irrespective of the ticket type they have.
To make it easier for customers to book their tickets, 30 million euros will be invested in the interconnection of the different distribution systems. This will go live early 2009 and will allow international travellers to find an attractive combination of prices, make a reservation, pay and receive their ticket from any distributor of European rail in a single transaction.
Frequent business travellers will also receive value added services and those in the top tier of a Railteam member’s frequent traveller programme will have some of their benefits extended to a wider network. In a later phase ‘train mile’ programmes will be expanded to the entire network.
Apart from these initial benefits, Railteam will seek to introduce new innovations as technologies develop over forthcoming years.
With travel on high-speed trains becoming easier and smoother, an increasing number of travellers will opt for environmentally friendly high-speed train travel within Europe. High speed rail journeys release significant less carbon dioxide than flying to the same destinations.
Extensive research has shown that business travellers are willing to travel up to four hours on rail because of the increased productivity versus the airlines, whilst leisure travellers are prepared to enjoy longer journeys of up to around 6 hours.
By 2010, the Railteam members expect 25 million international travellers to be using their European high-speed rail network. Railteam will play a key role in this.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
