What will the new status of railway company change for Thalys?
Agnès Ogier - Thalys will now have a product on which all its staff will focus. This new status means that resources will be pooled, with 100% of staff dedicated to Thalys. This will enable us to improve service quality. We will be more efficient because we will be able to optimise the way we work, while being more responsive. It's a matter of saving a few minutes, but that can make all the difference in terms of making the right decisions and the quality of passenger information.
Why didn't you opt for this status earlier?
A. O. - The decision was taken two years ago. The cooperation between the various players involved was working well, but Thalys needs to be more agile in the face of other emerging modes of transport, or of competitors announced for the rail network. We also needed to reach a critical mass that would justify becoming a rail company. This is now the case for Thalys, which employs some 550 people.
How would you sum up the 2014 financial year?
A. O. - 2014 was a good year, with sales growth of 2.4%. Customer satisfaction reached 89%, and punctuality 92.6%. The flow of business travellers behaved like the rest of our customer base, with the French market inevitably a little more difficult...
Are you planning any new services, particularly for business customers?
A. O. - The next few months will see the opening of our first ever showroom in the Gare du Nord, in Paris, at the beginning of June. We will also be inaugurating a new lounge at Bruxelles Midi before the end of the year. This is a real plus for meeting the needs of business travellers on our network.
Signing of the agreement on railway company status on 30 March in Brussels (DR)
