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The changing travel industry... in Europe
Everyone knows that the travel industry is changing, and if you didn't then my guess is that you don't read this blog very much. Or, you know, leave your house. But anyway, it's almost remarkable to take a look at the European travel landscape to get an idea of just how much the old paradigms are being shattered.
2010 is the year to remember, as far as European travel is concerned. That's when European rail networks - those that are part of the European Union, at least, which means the vast majority of western Europe and a good chunk of the East - will be opened to competition for the first time. That means any entity - public or private - can pay to use the tracks of any national rail system. For the traveling public, that's generally a good thing. More competition means better service and lower fares.
The European Parliament passed the legislation late last year, and now we are finally beginning to see the results. Air France - yes, the airline - has announced that it will officially embrace irony and begin running its own passenger trains on the London-Paris corridor through the Channel Tunnel, in direct competition with Eurostar. Air France expects its next-generation trains to run at 228 mph - faster than any currently-scheduled train in Europe, and will make the trip in under two hours. This is, of course, a result of falling airline business and consequently booming passenger counts on high-speed rail all over Europe. Eurostar saw numbers rise by 18% in the first half of this year. The company, for its part, is perfectly ready to take on new competition, at least according to corporate spokespeople. Airlines have "a lot to learn," according to Eurostar, and the company is ready to take them on "whether they use wings or wheels."
Meanwhile, other operators are eyeing lucrative rail routes as well. Virgin Atlantic is rumored to be interested in setting up a high-speed rai service, while German rail company Deutsche Bahn is looking into expanding its own network from Cologne to London. With this giant open-access experiment looming within the next two years, it will be interesting to observe how the European travel market continues to change and what it means for the traveling consumer.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Craig Sep 15th 2008 12:57PM
As someone who loves riding the trains through Europe, this is *terrible* news. Privatizing the railways will get rid of all the things that make train travel great and bring in all of the bad aspects of air travel. Say good bye to one simple system for checking schedules and buying tickets. No more holding a train for connecting passengers when another is running late (how will DB know that there are passengers on the late Trains R Us train that need to connect?). Say good bye to being able to buy tickets at one kiosk or counter at one train station and hop on to the train you've gotten used to seeing at the platform.
Say hello to delays with multiple rail carriers (including the inevitable and unscrupulous low cost carriers) all claiming to use the same rails or pushing their trains too close together. Say hello to ridiculous pricing schemes and add-on fees with no clear way to compare prices and routes. Say hello to a ton of headaches and (maybe) slightly lower fares, at least until people forget about how it used to be and the fares climb back up.
I can't wait until many of these companies merge together and we go back to the same number of operators with the same domains that there are now. Great idea.
diane Sep 15th 2008 6:55PM
We run a magazine site where we have a spain hotel review section http://www.in2town.co.uk and as such we have been receiving a huge amount of emails because of our hotel review section. This is due to the recent news of xl going bust and other travel companies going bust. People are very worried about booking a holiday with travel agents and those people who booked through the internet are now concerned that if anything happens to their travel agent that they will not be covered. What I cannot understand is why the larger companies are not making a public statement to put peoples minds at rest. If nothing is done by the other travel agents then their profits will go right down due to their potential customers being to scared to book holidays.
Europe traveler Sep 22nd 2008 12:48PM
It will be interesting to see how this changes transportation. I'll share whatever changes I notice in the meantime. Cheers!
B
http://www.jetsetway.com/