If a few years ago we were waiting for the Deutsche Bahn on the lines Paris-London/London-Brusselsit's finally the Renfe which is now embarking on the cross-Channel rail adventure, which weighed some 9 million passengers before Covid. The Spanish carrier confirmed its ambitions yesterday, with the aim of coming to compete with Eurostar on the Paris-London route.
there are currently slots available and the capacity to operate on this high-speed line
While SNCF's 55% subsidiary is currently operating only seven round trips a day between Paris and London as a result of the health crisis, Renfe considers that ". there are currently slots available and the capacity to operate on this high-speed line" . Negotiations are underway with Getlink (formerly Eurotunnel), which manages the Channel Tunnel, as well as with the French and British high-speed line operators. It believes that it will be able to start its service with seven daily rotations with its own high-speed trains before step up a gear if the fills are there. The profitability would be reached at the end of the fourth year of operation according to the business plan, which provides for a second phase of development. " In a second phase, the service could be extended to new French and international destinations" says Renfe. The opening date of the Paris-London service is not yet known. not specified at this stage.
A change of direction after the failure of the Paris-Lyon-Marseille route
Renfe has chosen to fall back on the highly lucrative Paris-London route following the disappointment of an initial project to set up operations in France on the line. Paris-Lyon-Marseille. This failure was due to problems of operability between its TGVs and the signalling on France's high-speed rail lines. The arrival of Trenitalia on the Paris-Lyon-Milan route with five round trips a day has undoubtedly accelerated this change of strategy. Through this ambitious project, Renfe also responds to SNCF which has been stepping on its Spanish toes by operating its first service since spring. MadridBarcelona with its low-cost TGV Ouigo offer, which has already won 37% of market share. Madrid-Valencia and Madrid-Seville should follow under the terms of the tender won by the French carrier.
A small pebble in the shoe of the Eurostar-Thalys merger
In the face of heightened competition on the cross-Channel rail route, Renfe is also tackling a new challenge company Eurostar in progress merger with her colleague Thalys following the will of the SNCFthe majority shareholder, to merge its two subsidiaries. The Eurostar brand will be the only one retained, with a priori a marketing division between Eurostar Blue for the current Eurostar network and Eurostar Red grouping together the Thalys lines, given the differences between these two networks and on-board products. The aim of this merger is to eventually carry 30 million passengers by exploiting additional routesThese include a single application and booking site, merged loyalty programmes, shared lounges in certain stations, etc. The arrival of Renfe could postpone this ambitious timetable, which had already been undermined by Covid. The arrival of Renfe could delay this ambitious timetable, which has already been jeopardised by Covid.
