The future of high-speed rail in Europe
by Mary Walsh
29 July 2011
If governments and rail operators are bold, we could be on the cusp of a high-speed rail revolution
These are exciting times for European high-speed rail travel. With the deregulation of the market and the arrival of direct on-rail competition between the UK and the continent, we are beginning to witness a fundamental transformation of the market and a renaissance in European rail travel. Just as other newly liberalised markets, such as energy and telecoms, were transformed by the arrival of competition - our own industry is set to undergo major change with travellers as the main beneficiaries.
Competition will drive a dynamic period of innovation and will deliver better choice for customers with new services, routes and destinations all on offer. Most importantly, it will help grow the market - encouraging more travellers to opt for high-speed rail for short-haul travel. London's St Pancras International station, in London, will be a very different place in 10 years' time. Obviously, we have been preparing for the arrival for direct competitors for some time now - recognising long ago that deregulation of the market offers us an exciting opportunity. Last year, we realised a long-held ambition and concluded the process of transforming the business from a partnership to a single, unified corporate entity. This first step has made our business stronger, more fleet of foot and ready to compete.
Across Europe we are seeing the early signs of consolidation in the marketplace with several operators establishing alliances and partnerships. At the same time, the high-speed network is going through a period of rapid expansion with a number of new high-speed lines opening in Spain, Holland, Belgium, Germany and in France. For example, the Barcelona to Madrid high-speed line, which opened in 2008, slashed journey times between the two cities from six hours to just two and half hours. In France, a contract was signed last month for the construction of a new high-speed line between Tours and Bordeaux. The HSR, which will take six years to design and build, will reduce the journey time between Paris and Bordeaux to just over two hours.
Seizing the opportunity, we have set ourselves a business target to increase the number of passengers connecting beyond our core routes to five million a year by 2015. We want to encourage more and more people to get out of their cars, ditch the plane and switch to high-speed rail instead. Expansion of the European high-speed network is crucial to achieving this. Currently, our core routes are London-Paris and London-Brussels. Beyond London, we have a number of partnership agreements with other train operating companies in the UK. Eurostar is now forging the same kind of relationships on the continent, simplifying travel to destinations in Germany and Holland such as Cologne, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Similarly, in France, connecting via Lille as well as Paris, we want to grow substantially the number of travellers heading for regional destinations in the south of France - or wherever they want to travel. We know there is consumer appetite for this and we are working hard on our plans to innovate our products and services.
One in four of our passengers already connect by high-speed rail to an onward destination and we need to build awareness of the possibilities of connecting travel, as well as developing our timetables to ensure we are aligned with the rest of the network. This is a huge priority for our business and we are working closely with our infrastructure providers and rail partners to optimise the connecting experience. As more and more travellers switch on to the environmental benefits of high-speed rail travel over air, we have seen demand for our services grow accordingly. Similarly, events such as the ash cloud disruption of 2010, and growing frustration with the short-haul air travel experience, have encouraged more travellers to take their first high-speed rail journey.
Once they experience the ease and convenience of city centre to city centre travel we increasingly see them return as repeat customers. As we enter a period of innovation, expansion and consolidation - the future of the European high-speed rail network looks very positive. Our industry has an opportunity to develop a truly pan-European network. Rail operators, partners and governments across Europe must seize this opportunity and Eurostar intends to be firmly at the heart of the revolution.
Mary Walsh is director of corporate communications at Eurostar
These are exciting times for European high-speed rail travel. With the deregulation of the market and the arrival of direct on-rail competition between the UK and the continent, we are beginning to witness a fundamental transformation of the market and a renaissance in European rail travel. Just as other newly liberalised markets, such as energy and telecoms, were transformed by the arrival of competition - our own industry is set to undergo major change with travellers as the main beneficiaries.
Competition will drive a dynamic period of innovation and will deliver better choice for customers with new services, routes and destinations all on offer. Most importantly, it will help grow the market - encouraging more travellers to opt for high-speed rail for short-haul travel. London's St Pancras International station, in London, will be a very different place in 10 years' time. Obviously, we have been preparing for the arrival for direct competitors for some time now - recognising long ago that deregulation of the market offers us an exciting opportunity. Last year, we realised a long-held ambition and concluded the process of transforming the business from a partnership to a single, unified corporate entity. This first step has made our business stronger, more fleet of foot and ready to compete.
Across Europe we are seeing the early signs of consolidation in the marketplace with several operators establishing alliances and partnerships. At the same time, the high-speed network is going through a period of rapid expansion with a number of new high-speed lines opening in Spain, Holland, Belgium, Germany and in France. For example, the Barcelona to Madrid high-speed line, which opened in 2008, slashed journey times between the two cities from six hours to just two and half hours. In France, a contract was signed last month for the construction of a new high-speed line between Tours and Bordeaux. The HSR, which will take six years to design and build, will reduce the journey time between Paris and Bordeaux to just over two hours.
Seizing the opportunity, we have set ourselves a business target to increase the number of passengers connecting beyond our core routes to five million a year by 2015. We want to encourage more and more people to get out of their cars, ditch the plane and switch to high-speed rail instead. Expansion of the European high-speed network is crucial to achieving this. Currently, our core routes are London-Paris and London-Brussels. Beyond London, we have a number of partnership agreements with other train operating companies in the UK. Eurostar is now forging the same kind of relationships on the continent, simplifying travel to destinations in Germany and Holland such as Cologne, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Similarly, in France, connecting via Lille as well as Paris, we want to grow substantially the number of travellers heading for regional destinations in the south of France - or wherever they want to travel. We know there is consumer appetite for this and we are working hard on our plans to innovate our products and services.
One in four of our passengers already connect by high-speed rail to an onward destination and we need to build awareness of the possibilities of connecting travel, as well as developing our timetables to ensure we are aligned with the rest of the network. This is a huge priority for our business and we are working closely with our infrastructure providers and rail partners to optimise the connecting experience. As more and more travellers switch on to the environmental benefits of high-speed rail travel over air, we have seen demand for our services grow accordingly. Similarly, events such as the ash cloud disruption of 2010, and growing frustration with the short-haul air travel experience, have encouraged more travellers to take their first high-speed rail journey.
Once they experience the ease and convenience of city centre to city centre travel we increasingly see them return as repeat customers. As we enter a period of innovation, expansion and consolidation - the future of the European high-speed rail network looks very positive. Our industry has an opportunity to develop a truly pan-European network. Rail operators, partners and governments across Europe must seize this opportunity and Eurostar intends to be firmly at the heart of the revolution.
Mary Walsh is director of corporate communications at Eurostar
COMMENTS
Well written Ms Walsh. if you please, might you explain how the Dutch Rail ticketing method will fit into your vision of a pan-European rail network. More precisely, the chipcard is becoming mandatory for rail travel in the Netherlands and is only available to those passengers with Dutch bank accounts. My understanding is that paper tickets will disappear within the next 6-12 months and, then, anyone wishing travel by rail must do so by swiping a proprietary chipcard - which collects the fare from their personal bank account.
P. Tersian - USA
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