Western Europe railways team up
Train systems form alliance to compete with discount airlines
Seven railways in Western Europe have partnered to streamline their operations, lower prices and go up against the discount airlines.
In the now ongoing battle between rail and air travel in Western Europe, the railways have taken another step forward. According to the German daily newspaper Handelsblatt, railways from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland as well as Britain, are teaming up and plan to launch a partnership at the end of 2007.
The move comes after a number of discount airlines, such as EasyJet, RyanAir and Air Berlin, have swooped into the Western European travel market and taken away business from the railways in the past several years. The discount carriers made it cheaper to travel by air than by rail, but that may not be true for long.
The group of railways, which is known internally as “Railteam,” plans to offer a frequent-rider program. Also, the alliance will focus on integrating the different rail systems, providing seamless connections at stations, integrate ticketing, fares and information on booking and journeys. Additionally, the railways plan to offer on-train Internet access, which is currently unavailable on airplanes.
Another plus for the railways is that they are much less harmful to the environment than both air and road travel. For example, according to independent research done for Eurostar, each passenger on a roundtrip between Paris and London generates about 122 kilograms of CO2, while that same traveler on Eurostar makes about 11 kilograms of CO2. Studies show that many travelers are concerned with the damage they do to the environment while traveling and are seeking ways to limit their footprints.
“We certainly are seeing something of a backlash against short-haul flights in Europe,” said Mark Smith, a consultant in the rail industry. “People here are very concerned about lowering their carbon footprints.”
The railway partnership will offer a “really attractive and effective alternative to the more environmentally damaging, short-haul airlines,” said Richard Brown, head of Eurostar.
Additionally, the railways on-time stats are significantly better than the airlines and they have unparalleled safety records. For the past 26 years, high-speed rains have been running on dedicated tracks and there have been no fatalities.
And finally, there is the convenience factor. Airports are becoming bottlenecks with huge lines at the security checks, inconsistent rules regarding carryon luggage and delays and cancelled flights due to weather, among other issues. Trains are less affected by bad weather and passengers generally keep their luggage near them, so lost luggage isn’t a problem.
Whether the railways will be able to wrestle market share away from the airlines remains to be seen, but whatever the case, a railway alliance is sure to be good news for consumers.
