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.