Tuesday at Brussels-Midi thatEurostar Group lifted the veil on the timetable and future projects of the merger in progress Eurostar and Thalys. With its strong international reputation, it was the first to be chosen to carry the commercial brand of the new rail group, Thalys in front of disappear in the third quarter of 2023This is likely to happen in September. " The star on the new logo pays homage to the Etoile du Nord, the legendary train that linked Paris to Amsterdam via Brussels from the 1920s onwards." explains Gwendoline Cazenave, head of the Eurostar Group holding company. " The logo will then be displayed on all trains and at all points of contact with customers, in stations, on sales materials, in on-board catering, etc." . A publicity campaign is also planned for the autumn to present this new product. Eurostar new look in all its markets.
A single application and website by the summer
From OctoberEurostar will have a single application and a new website to find out more about the company and book tickets for the entire network operating on five European countries. It will be possible, for example, to buy a London-Frankfurt flight in just a few clicks. In the longer term, the cities served will function as hubs thanks to the computerised integration of the national services of the SNCFthe SNCB and DB. " The application should make it easy to book a flight from Brussels to Marseille or London to Bordeaux, for example." she adds. With the possibility, presumably, of passengers being taken care of if the first train is delayed.
Le loyalty programme will also be unified under the Eurostar which will enable its millions of subscribers to benefit from award tickets throughout this new European high-speed network. Work on theharmonisation of offers will also begin with a planned launch of three new travel classes in 2024. Dedicated services will be offered by on-board staff wearing a brand new uniform. "A survey will be launched to find out our customers' expectations, identify the services we are keeping and those we need to strengthen..." explains Gwendoline Cazenave. " The name of each class should reflect the experience that Eurostar wishes to offer" says the SNCF executive.
Brexit impacts traffic with London
The ambition of Eurostar Group - and of SNCF, its main shareholder - is to achieve 30 million passengers by 2030 which represents a doubling compared to 15 million transported by the two companies in 2022 (19 million in 2019). " The main difficulty in increasing capacity and therefore traffic on Eurostar lies in the double passport control following the Brexit. It limits the sequence of trains on departure, because managing flows has become an avoidable challenge in our terminals, which are housed in old buildings whose walls are difficult to push out." explains François Le Doze, Eurostar's Commercial Director. Visit Paris-Nord station extension project which was torpedoed by the City of Paris was aimed at resolving these difficulties. " From Amsterdam we can only take 250 passengers on a Eurostar train!" laments Gwendoline Cazenave.
In terms of frequencies, Eurostar currently operates 14 Paris-London return services and 7 Paris-Brussels return services, 4 of which continue on to Amsterdam. A 5th Amsterdam-London return flight is hoped for this year to meet the particularly strong demand on this route. Eurostar Group points out that while leisure has regained all its vigour, business traffic only returned to 80% - or even 85% in the good months - of that for 2019. This is due to the use of videoconferencing from Covid but also to strikes which are multiplying in France and Great Britain. " Business travellers think twice before they travel. Visit CSR directives companies also play a role, even if the train is the greenest means of transport for moving around Europe" adds François Le Doze.
A unified fleet to redevelop traffic flows
Returning to and exceeding 2019 volumes is a priority for the carrier, to ensure a return to profitability. profitability especially as Eurostar is in debt to the tune of 850 million pounds following the Covid crisis. With a unified approach to fleet management, the group will be able to rely on its 25 Eurostar trainstwice the capacity of the 26 Thalys TGVs, to develop traffic and routes on the Old Continent. " The eventual renewal of part of the fleet should enable the new trains to run on both networks, which is not currently the case for Thalys trains." confides Alain KrakovitchChairman of the Eurostar Group. Last but not least, boosting traffic will require attractive offers, particularly in the leisure segment. " There are no plans to overhaul the fare structure, with Paris-Brussels starting at €29, Paris-Amsterdam at €35 and Paris-London at €39." concluded Gwendoline Cazenave.
