railway companies

Like the airlines, which have been sailing in the dark for months and have had to revise their offer from week to week, the rail operators are adjusting their programme according to the confinements and other regulatory constraints. Thalys is no exception to the rule. Three weeks after agreeing to a drastic reduction in its timetable, Thalys...

The project to modernise the Gare du Nord, presented in the summer of 2018, has since been the subject of several waves of protests. Petitions from local residents, tribunes from architects and urban planners - Jean Nouvel, Dominique Perrault and Roland Castro among them - against the commercial dominance of this project supported by the SNCF and Ceetrus, a subsidiary of the...

Will the current crisis have an impact on train design? Hervé Macé - Because of the pandemic, new requirements will come into play, such as air renewal or the positioning of seats to make cleaning easier. In addition to this hygiene aspect, respect for the environment is another...

Like the other rail operators, Lyria is reducing its offer as a result of the restrictions imposed in France and Switzerland. Since 5 November, the Franco-Swiss operator has seriously reduced its frequencies between the two countries. Lyria now only offers three daily return services between France and Switzerland. Two daily frequencies...

Bertrand Gosselin, CEO of Thalys, posted a strong and unequivocal message on his Twitter account on Wednesday: "Thalys is going through the biggest crisis in its history. [We] have reduced our offer to a minimum with regret but with responsibility. When better times return, we will need you, our customers,...

Like most of its European counterparts, Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) will launch its 2021 timetable on 13 December. And these timetables contain a series of new features presented by the company's Managing Director Andreas Matthä at a press conference in Vienna at the end of October. "We are, of course,...

Like the airlines, for whom the famous passenger experience is based on an ergonomic, content-rich entertainment system - particularly on the long-haul network - trains are also taking the connected travel route. The latest partnership between Ouigo and Moment is a case in point. The rail company has chosen...

Are customers returning to Thalys? Bertrand Gosselin - Thalys has been hard hit by this crisis, as have the tourism and transport sectors. We had two and a half months with virtually no sales before traffic gradually picked up again in mid-June. All our on-board services have been...

The price of the BahnCard 25, which gives access to a 25% discount on German rail routes, is being offered at 24.90 euros (2nd class) or 69.90 euros (1st class) instead of 54.60 euros and 109.90 euros. The discount applies to all major Deutsche Bahn -ICE lines...

With teleworking on the rise and companies limiting staff travel because of Covid-19, train companies are struggling to get business travellers back on their trains. Thalys is no exception to the rule, and is launching a Corporate offer to attract companies back. Until 31 October, its Thalys Corporate programme...

Trainline, the booking platform dedicated to train and bus travel, is adding a new feature designed to make it easier to get a refund for a late train. Operating with 270 carriers in 45 countries, Trainline has chosen France as the first country to offer this service. According to a survey conducted with OpinionWay last August, 62%...

Eurostar has just launched Eurostar For Business in the UK, a new booking platform for its cross-Channel trains aimed at business customers, with all booking files now grouped together in a single area. Above all, to encourage business travellers to use this portal, Eurostar is offering benefits for every 15 return journeys between London...

In preparation for the hoped-for return of business travellers on its TGVs this autumn, despite the Covid-19 crisis, SNCF is bolstering its sales with a promotional offer aimed at frequent travellers, the bulk of whom are 'pro' customers. From 14 September to 7 October inclusive, the Liberté card is being sold at...

The total transport package amounts to just over 11 billion euros and will help to speed up France's ecological transition. Prime Minister Jean Castex has specified that this package will help to renovate the railways, build new railway bridges, bring back night trains and...

The decline in traffic linked to Covid-19 and ever-increasing sensitivity to environmental issues: these are the two factors that have certainly prompted Swiss to develop a new service between Geneva and Zurich... this time, not by air, but by rail. But there's nothing revolutionary about this, as Swiss will be marketing its new...

Just as airlines are gradually reopening their premium lounges to business travellers, rail companies are also reopening their lounges. This was the case on Thursday at the Thalys lounge next to the Gare du Nord in Paris. This 180 m² space is once again open to passengers travelling with...

The deconfinement of Italy since mid-May is gradually allowing rail traffic with its neighbours to resume. From France, SNCF has reopened a daily service between Paris and Milan. Thello also resumed its first rail service on 4 June, solely between Nice and Milan. The company offers...

With the reopening of Europe's borders, rail companies are resuming their international services. In particular, the SNCF and its subsidiaries operating between Paris and Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Good news for business travellers who need to get away. There is one major exception, however, with the...

With the decontamination process beginning on 11 May, business travellers have timidly resumed their business trips. In particular by train, with the TGV Inoui service being introduced on the main French lines. To reassure its customers, the rail company has introduced a strict health charter requiring its staff to wear masks.

An attractive alternative over distances previously considered unattractive by travellers, particularly business travellers. This is the commitment signed on 3 June by 25 countries of the European Union - as well as Norway and Switzerland - to encourage the development of fast or high-speed international lines on the continent, and to...