175 years of the Paris-Brussels line, 25 candles for the Thalys company, but also and much more topical for business travellers, step up frequencies after a year and a half of sluggish activity: June is the month to celebrate for the Franco-Belgian carrier, a subsidiary of SNCF and SNCB, the Belgian railways. A cooperation described as " successful "Alain Krakovitch, Director General of SNCF Voyages, since the first high-speed trains linking France, Belgium and the Netherlands were brought into service on 2 June 1996. many wonderful things have been achieved together in 25 years "according to Sophie Dutordoir, CEO of SNCB.
The celebration of the departure from the Gare du Nord on 14 June 1846 of the first train to link two European capitals demonstrated that rail links between France and Belgium have a long history. But then, what175 years ago, the Paris-Brussels journey lasted two days via Lille and Ghent, today it takes just 1 hour 22 minutes. " Under normal circumstancesHowever Bertrand GosselinCEO of Thalys, because the health crisis has greatly complicated travel. But with travel conditions easing, we are now relaunching frequencies.. "
11 frequencies from 14 June, compared with 22 under normal circumstances, the Thalys offer will increase to 65 % on 25 July and probably to 80 % from 4 September, with the company expecting a return to 100 % next year. In parallel, the company's lounges in Brussels-Midi and Paris-Nord have also reopened, offering coffee, tea and refreshments to frequent travellers. New for this relaunch, the company is offering a new login portal to the Internet on board red trains. After a facelift, "Thalysnet" is now easier to use, according to the carrier.
Thalys, battered by the crisis and forced to adapt its transport plan every fortnight in line with demand and travel restrictions, is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Its recent refinancing120 million with five European banks, allows Alain Krakovitch to say, ". very confident in the company's resilience" . WhileEurostar's finances have also been put on a sounder footing, The merger of the two companies should be able to proceed and is now expected to take place next year as part of the Green Speed programme, giving birth to a new driving force for mobility in Europe. And a green one at that.
The sustainable mobility aspect should play a positive role in the company's business recovery. Stressing that Thalys uses 100% green energyBertrand Gosselin sees the appeal of this medium as a reason to be optimistic for the future," he says. because the crisis has heightened travellers' ecological awareness" . For her part, Sophie Dutordoir, who stressed that Thalys had succeeded in "supplant air travel and compete with the car on short distances" declares itself " convinced that the train will come out of this crisis a winner" .
Is this mainly due to the flygskam effect or the Covid effect? local tourism is in vogue. An Odoxa survey carried out for Thalys shows that almost four out of ten French people (37%) are planning to visit a European country close to France this year, compared with 16% in 2020 and 17% in 2019. Belgium and the Netherlands, the countries served by Thalys, emerge from this survey as the most attractive destinations.
But while leisure customers should help the company to get back on the rails, what about business customers? This June, business travellers account for 41 % of customers compared with 60% before the crisis. While SME business customers are back on track, key account customers have been left stranded for the time being.
At the same time, the company is expecting an inevitable decline in this segment as a result of the use of videoconferencing for team meetings and the development of teleworking, At the start of the autumn, Thalys will be introducing new corporate customers. And this at almost the same time as the company puts its first refurbished Ruby train on the tracks, offering greater passenger comfort with redesigned seats equipped for nomadic work with power and USB sockets.
SNCF: what's new for business customers?Like Thalys, SNCF will be unveiling its offers for corporate customers at the start of the autumn. Without revealing the content, Alain Krakovich described the main themes, starting with.., the Liberté card who will remain the key tool in the company's sales policy for business customers "according to the Director General of SNCF Voyages. However, it is which will change over the coming months in order to boost its acquisition and subscriber numbers, in line with the Avantage card presented at the beginning of June and dedicated to leisure customers. Presented on the occasion of the announcement of the company's new fare policy, teleworking subscription is another pillar of the SNCF's corporate customer strategy. Alain Krakovich hopes it will appeal to " many people because it is adapted to current demand" . Finally, the SNCF is also planning a number of initiatives aimed at its key accounts and SMEs to boost business travel on its trains. While SMEs have started to travel again much more quickly, the company does not expect any major accounts to return before the autumn. As far as this market is concerned, Alain Krakovich expects the combination of three effects in the months ahead. One is negative, with the use of videoconferencing set to continue. But the others are positive for the company, in particular long-distance teleworking, " that will bring us business" . Another positive factor is the development of CSR action plans in companies of all sizes. " In this context, they contact us because they would like to have a proactive policy in favour of railparticularly with regard to air travel" said Alain Krakovich. |
