MARCH/APRIL 2013
High speed rail
Germany, we haven’t seen a noticeable shift from air to rail. France and Germany are traditionally seen as the high-speed rail countries in Europe, and we do see some policies in these countries that mandate the use of rail for specific routes. These policies are either clearly spelling out the top routes, such as Paris-Lyon or Frankfurt- Stuttgart, or give a maximum rail travel time saying all destinations which can be reached within three hours have to be by train. “CWT Solutions Group sees rail as a potential triple bottom-line gain: increased productivity on journeys, cost-savings, and a reduction in CO2 emissions. Research shows that high-speed rail is preferred to air for trips up to three hours in 16 European countries, and 55 per cent of travel managers surveyed by CWT said their companies promote the use of high- speed rail as an alternative to air.”
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PROMISES AND PROBLEMS Despite this promising scenario, there are problems booking high-speed rail which will take years to resolve. Also, UK travellers will have to overcome a mindset that journeys of up to three or four hours are the maximum comfortably done by rail (relevant once Europe-wide connections are available), while delays to opening new business routes from London are also a major disappointment. Deutsche Bahn (DB) – the German national operator – had hoped to start direct services from London to Cologne and Frankfurt, and also from London to Rotterdam and
Amsterdam, by the end of this year. But this will not now happen for at least another three to four years, due to problems commissioning the highly complex trains by the manufacturer, Siemens. Despite this, DB was voted Best Rail Operator in the Business Travel Awards this year, beating off the other finalists Eurostar and Heathrow Express. Its Eco Plus offer, which enables carbon-free business travel in Germany for registered companies, was decisive in the win, sitting alongside a suite of business travel products, including discounts for corporates spending at least Ð3,000
“Deutsche Bahn is still determined to operate London services, as there is a strong business case”
a year. DB sales director Oliver Schmidt says: “We are very pleased with the award, as it is hard for an operator that doesn’t yet have a UK service to win. The issue of our direct trains from London is a real shambles, as in 2009 we ordered 16 new trains to serve these routes. Siemens said it could deliver in December 2011, giving us two years to gain the necessary approvals, but the first trains arrived faulty. But we are still determined to operate London services, as there is a strong business case. The existing service connecting with Eurostar in Brussels is good, but in the meantime my task is to keep the UK market warm – or lukewarm.” A journey time of four hours to Cologne and five hours to Frankfurt is promised – with the
current fastest journey time to Cologne of about four-and-a-half hours already attracting a few business travellers. But whether direct services to Cologne, Frankfurt, Rotterdam and Amsterdam will ever challenge the airlines is open to question.
MENTAL BARRIER Head of rail for Capita Business Travel – the biggest travel management company (TMC) selling rail in Britain – Raj Sachdave, says: “There is still a mental barrier in the UK that four hours is the maximum business travellers are prepared to spend on a train. That is different in Europe because of the culture and the extensive high-speed network, but the UK traveller has yet to experience what high-speed rail can offer in productivity, connectivity and ease of ticketing. In Europe, the mental barrier is more like six hours. Awareness will change when more direct trains are running.”
Ticketing is another problem faced by TMCs and buyers, as rail is only just starting to be integrated with air, hotel and other bookings on global distribution systems (GDSs). The European Commission (EC) is leading a project throughout the European Union to get rail operators to supply fares, timetables and other data in a common format, which would allow GDSs and others to connect to a common-user system, as with airlines. Progress is slow, although HRG director of industry and fare distribution, Tony Berry, hopes for progress within two years.
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