Eurostar and Thalys announced the forces last Friday bundle. The new combination will transport more than eighteen million travelers annually on a network of high-speed lines. The French national railway company has a majority stake in both high-speed lines, as does the new group. The purpose of the merger is to form a European train giant that will compete with budget airlines such as Ryanair and EasyJet.

“The challenge of climate change and the demand for ecologically responsible travel require an ambitious answer. Bringing together the strengths of Eurostar and Thalys would be a powerful response to this challenge. The creation of a combined European high-speed rail company would provide an attractive alternative to road and air transport for our 18,5 million passengers and herald a new era for the development of European high-speed rail services. High speed is an opportunity for Europe, Europe an opportunity for high speed ”, thus Guillaume Pepy, President of SNCF.

Code name Green Speed

In the new train combination, which realizes a turnover of € 1,6 billion and operates under the code name GreenSpeed, the French carrier SNCF has more than 50% of the shares. The combination aims to accelerate the transition from air and road to high-speed rail by increasing the passenger capacity per year on the combined Eurostar and Thalys networks, both current and future, from 18,5 million passengers today to nearly 30 million by 2030, a response to the growing demand for environmentally responsible travel.

“The combination of Thalys and Eurostar would come at the right time and could only benefit all travelers. It would combine rail expertise with stable shareholders. The combination would be based on the strong belief that the train is now more than ever the safest, most sustainable, fastest and most efficient solution for travel within Europe. Brussels would play a central role in this project as a hub for the different routes connecting all the cities served, ”said Sophie Dutordoir, CEO of SNCB and Chairman of Thalys

Eurostar and Thalys

Eurostar offers direct services on its two core routes between London-Paris and London-Brussels, in addition to routes to Calais, Lille, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Lyon, Avignon, Marseille, three ski destinations - Moutiers, Aime-La-Plage and Bourg -Saint -Maurice and Disneyland Paris.

Thalys, founded in 1995 and developed from the beginning to the scale of its 4 countries - Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Germany - is the result of a strong and sustainable European vision. The Thalys always looks like Brussels, Paris, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Schiphol / Amsterdam Airport, Liège, Aix-La-Chapelle, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Airport, Duisburg, Essen, Dortmund, Paris Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle Airport, Marne-La-Vallée , Marseille, Bordeaux and the French Alps.

Earlier this week, it was announced that from next year the Eurostar will run directly from Amsterdam to London. Border controls are currently still taking place in Brussels South. There should also be a switch. This will be a thing of the past from the 2020 timetable, said State Secretary Ankie Broekers-Knol (Justice and Security) in the House of Representatives.

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