At the end of the road: the business lounge

But the SNCF is going further than just offering VIP lounges to meet the needs of its demanding customers. Last November, the company, through its Gares & Connexions branch, signed an agreement with Regus, the world leader in flexible workspaces. The agreement covers the establishment of business centres in Le Mans, Bordeaux, Nancy, Amiens, Paris Nord and Lille Flandres stations. The first centre, with a surface area of 300m=, will open at Le Mans station at the end of 2012. This will be followed in 2013 by Bordeaux, Nancy and Amiens, and in 2014 by Paris-Nord and Lille Flandres, which, at 1,500m=, will be the largest of all.

"Developing spaces dedicated to professionals and businesses in French stations is a necessity in today's society"., explains Sophie Boissard, Managing Director of Gare & Connexions. The SNCF subsidiary thus aims to cater to the needs of the millions of workers and employees who primarily use the train for their journeys. Indeed, 60 % of domestic journeys are between home and work, whilst 15 %d are for business purposes. This represents a significant number of passengers who would be delighted to find facilities and services at stations to save time and minimise unnecessary journeys.

 

Regus, for its part, is aiming its spaces at a broader target of ten million mobile managers. "We want to enable them to be more efficient and productive, adds Frédéric Bleuse, Managing Director France, However, it's no substitute for having a real space dedicated to business activities, such as writing confidential e-mails, finalising a contract or organising a meeting".

 

Unlike the group's other business centres, the space has been designed around specific travel facilities: These centres, which will also be accessible to Regus Businessworld cardholders, will offer a range of products and services on a fee-for-service basis, such as meeting rooms and videoconferencing facilities booked on a 30-minute basis, private offices available for hire for ten minutes or more, spaces available for working with colleagues or clients, as well as access to lounges for ten minutes or an hour, with free WiFi and refreshments...

 

Across the border in Switzerland, Lyria carried more than four million passengers in 2011, including almost two million international passengers and 32 % travelling for business reasons. To attract more business customers, the Swiss rail company plans to increase its first-class capacity. At the same time, in Zürich, high-contribution passengers and "frequent flyers" have free access to a lounge that seats around fifty and welcomes between 400 and 700 passengers every day. "We are convinced that stations are centres of welcome and exchange in their own right. The opening of these lounges reflects our desire to support our customers both before and after their train journey".says Émilie Perrot, Lyria's Sales and Marketing Director.

Marianne Moser, a banking executive from Zurich, is one of the avid users of these business lounges. "As a regular commuter between Switzerland and Paris, I'm making the most of my time! I don't just work on board the trains in the 1era class, but also at the station, particularly in the Zürich lounge". This user finds the space both aesthetically pleasing and practical: she can have a drink at her convenience and access the Internet. Given the success of this exhibition - 25,000 visitors in just 20 months of existence - the experiment will be continued with the planned opening of the same space in Geneva in 2014 and Basel in 2015.

 

Across the Channel, Eurostar is also meeting the expectations of its business customers, particularly Business Premier passengers. From 2013, the company will be offering a WiFi connection service on board. Nick Mercer, Eurostar's Commercial Director, says: "our Business Premier class is one of our top priorities and we will continue to invest in service to ensure it remains a benchmark." Another special feature reserved for business travellers, if they are travelling in Business Premier or are holders of the Eurostar Carte Blanche: access to the lounges at Paris Nord, Brussels Midi and Saint Pancras International, in London. The very cosy lounges are built on two levels, with the upper floor dedicated to work and the lower to relaxation, with its selection of newspapers and hot drinks...

 

This trend can also be found in Germany, where Deutsche Bahn (DB) is offering access to some fifteen lounges across the country to first-class passengers and bahn.bonus.comfort card holders. As Jean Moreau, Marketing Director, explains, "these areas have been created with a service at least equivalent to that found in VIP airline lounges: free self-service hot or cold drinks, newspapers and magazines, news channels and a workspace with a paid WiFi connection via T Mobile". In addition, the lounges in Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and Frankfurt stations have areas reserved exclusively for first-class passengers.

 

By offering such services, the German company aims to make it easier for business travellers to get around, by providing a place to hold a meeting and work in complete peace of mind, with the added bonus of a catering service. All without having to travel far from the station and spend time looking for the right place. The Frankfurt show also offers the possibility of reserving rooms for ten people, equipped with a range of equipment, including overhead projectors. To create more user-friendly venues, Deutsche Bahn is now planning to renovate all its stations. The materials used will be wood, glass and steel, and the colours used will be dominated by red, the company's signature colour. In addition, still with a view to supporting its business customers, all DB trains offer a seat service and have first-class compartments for five people that can be made private for business meetings.

 

Alongside the lounges installed in stations, some train companies are now equipping their trains with private workspaces. Alongside Deutsche Bahn, Thalys is one of the forerunners in this field, opening a private lounge at the head of each first-class train in 2010 on the Paris-Brussels line. This space takes the form of a mini meeting room: four luxurious armchairs surrounding a real meeting table, designer coat racks, power sockets and a WiFi network!

 

Calm, comfort, confidentiality, functionality, a warm welcome and personalised services: all the little extras have been put in place to satisfy the every need of business travellers. In this area, passengers benefit from all the services of Comfort 1 - the 1st class of the Thalys -: meals at the seat, WiFi access included in the price of the ticket, international press available and the possibility of booking a taxi on board. “This is a product specifically designed for business customers. Business customers account for 43 %d passengers in Comfort 1 and 28 % in Comfort 2, representing one-third of our total customer base.”says Scheherazade Zekri-Chevallet, Commercial Director of Thalys International. Although the number of seats in this area will still be limited to four, Thalys plans to develop related services, including a concierge service. Or how to go even further to compete with air travel.