Feature: Rail Travel
Commercial director Peter Williams says, “Market research told us that people want a full meal service in first class. We have some deals to incentivise companies to use first class, such as the Scottish Executive package, and are conducting a modal shift marketing campaign in Newcastle and Edinburgh.” Like East Coast, Virgin has retained some of
Gatwick Express CORPORATE HOSPITALITY ON BOARD
WHEN I was recently invited to a corporate event including lunch on a First Great Western service from London Paddington to Swindon, I planned on having a full dinner that evening as this operator’s meals service is usually very limited, even in first class, writes Dave Richardson. But I was wrong. It might have been an ordinary
First Great Western train, but the meal – and indeed the whole corporate event – was organised by a separate company called Train Chartering. The company will be particularly busy during
March taking horse-racing fans to the Cheltenham Festival, with a carriage for 42 people costing around £13,000 including Club Enclosure badges at Cheltenham. The usual minimum size for a group is 20, and it mainly uses scheduled trains for company events and conferences. On some trains full dining is offered and on others, simply Champagne and canapés. Carriages can reflect company branding and it can offer a similar service in other countries too. Director Simon Pielow set up Train Chartering in
1998 after working for Eurostar, and seeing how it handled rock stars and royalty on regular services. He says event organisers should consider how people will get to their particular gathering, and trains often make good sense. “We can also charter whole trains, as with
Royal Bank of Scotland to the Six Nations rugby in Cardiff,” he adds. “As the main sponsor of the tournament, it will also have the trophy on board. We can offer meals on regular trains depending on what the train operator can support.” Our party arrived in Swindon feeling special,
after a silver service lunch of soup and brochette of chicken, followed by a cream tea on the return journey. Other passengers looked on in envy...
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The two biggest long- distance operators for business, Virgin Trains and East Coast, are facing possibly major changes. Virgin’s franchise expires in March 2012, and a bidding war is looming for the prime business routes from London to the West Midlands and North West. East Coast is currently being run by the government after National Express defaulted on the franchise, with Virgin Group tipped to be one of the bidders when the franchise is re-let in 2012. These operators have eclipsed airlines on routes including London to Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle, and are chipping away at airlines’ share to Glasgow and Edinburgh. bmi has acknowledged increased rail competition as it prepares to scrap its Heathrow-Glasgow route from March 27, although rising charges at Heathrow are the main factor. The Scotsman newspaper, meanwhile, conducted a test with reporters despatched from Edinburgh to central London by train and air, having to file copy online as they went. The rail passenger was not only slightly quicker, but much more productive. East Coast will introduce a new timetable in
May including more trains to Newcastle and Edinburgh, and a new service to Lincoln. It will also introduce full meals included in the first class fare (as with Virgin), with a fastest 'Flying Scotsman' journey time from Edinburgh to London of only four hours, although 4h30m will remain the norm.
“More clients are now asking for comparisons of rail and air fares, and often there is not much between them. Airlines could increase their share on domestic routes”
the business passengers who switched from air in 2010 and claims a 20 per cent share of the London-Glasgow market. It is “business as usual” during the last year of the franchise, but it is not a time for innovations. The new West Coast franchise will run until 2026, when the new high-speed line is due to be operational between London and Birmingham. Business development manager Elaine Zekavica says, “Some business travellers tried Virgin for the first time and were impressed. We cannot compete in the day return market to/from Glasgow, but there is plenty of other business. We do offer incentives to companies but this is always for incremental business, switching from air or road.” ScotRail’s Caledonian Sleeper service to/from London and major cities recorded 20 per cent growth last year. Marketing manager Graeme Macfarlane says, “The beauty of the sleeper for business travel is that there are savings on hotel costs, crucial when travel budgets are being squeezed, and the journey is between city centres.” TMCs hope increases in fares and fees will not derail the switch from
air, but warn that continued increases in costs will put a strain on businesses. Tony Berry, HRG's director of industry and fare distribution, says, “Using rail is policy for larger organisa- tions, to support carbon reduction and reduce spend. But more clients are now asking for comparisons of rail and air fares, and often there is not much between them. Airlines could in fact increase their share on domestic routes.” Raj Sachdave of Capita Business Travel, adds, “Corporate buyers are conscious of the overall cost of rail travel, including add-ons such as parking and food going up. But corporates have pushed rail expenditure up the pecking order of priorities for 2011.”
EUROPEAN RAIL TRAVEL While Eurostar delivered a strong performance in 2010 – at least until more snow disruption in December – eyes are now turning to the prospect of through trains from London to Cologne, Amsterdam and other European cities. German rail operator DB ran one of its ICE
trains through the Channel Tunnel to St Pancras last October and aims to operate trains from London to Cologne, Frankfurt and Amsterdam – each with a journey time in the region of four hours – from the end of 2013. European rail specialists such as Erail Travel already report increasing demand for journeys such as
➔ 26 I THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
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