High prices, ticketing issues and technical problems are stunting the development of international rail travel from the UK, reports Alex McWhirter.
International train services between the UK and mainland Europe continue to be hampered by a host of political and technical considerations. Until such time as the industry learns to integrate, passengers will face the double whammy of higher fares and lengthier journeys.
At the end of this year, Germany’s Deutsche Bahn (DB) should have been starting through services from London St Pancras to Amsterdam, Brussels, Cologne and Frankfurt. The aim was to run three services a day with journey times of under four hours to Amsterdam and just over five hours to Frankfurt. Each train would consist of two units that would split on arrival in Brussels. One would continue to Amsterdam and the other to Frankfurt.
But it won’t now happen. Why? Because DB has to use the Channel Tunnel and, currently, its ICE trains do not meet the requirements of the Channel Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission (IGC), which determines technical standards for the tunnel. Under existing commission rules, ICE passenger trains formed of two units cannot use the tunnel. Three years after DB announced plans to start services, the IGC has yet to rule on the matter.
DB spokesman Graham Meiklejohn says: “We still have not received approval to operate our trains through the tunnel. The tunnel safety authorities meet only two or three times a year so the necessary approval cannot be rushed. We are going through the procedures and have every confidence they will be fulfilled.”
Even if the IGC gives its approval, DB does not have the special ICE trains to run the service owing to delivery delays by manufacturer Siemens. And the technical problems are such that DB will not be drawn on a start date. Meiklejohn says: “[When the original technical issues became apparent] we set a tentative starting date for 2016, but it is difficult to be more accurate until we receive more certainty from Siemens. These are complex trains. They are being designed to operate over several different railway systems, each with its own technical standards.”
It was DB’s intention to operate from London that spurred Eurostar into action. Ever since it launched in 1994, Eurostar has contented itself with serving only Brussels, Lille and Paris, plus a couple of seasonal routes. Passengers who wish to travel further must change trains. Not only can this create ticketing issues but it extends journey times.
But in an about-turn, Eurostar has splashed out £700 million on a fleet of ten Siemens trains – these differ in design from DB’s ICEs. Each accommodates a whopping 900 passengers and, unlike the older trains, will allow Eurostar to serve a number of countries. They comprise one complete unit so face no tunnel restrictions.
Eurostar will not divulge details of its new destinations but rumours abound that they will include Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Geneva. The trains are under construction and will need extensive testing before delivery late next year. So a realistic start date for the new services, assuming no technical problems crop up, would be sometime in 2015 – a year later than originally planned.
Even then, Eurostar will face another problem, this time unrelated to the rail industry, in the shape of the UK Border Agency (UKBA). The UK is not in the Schengen area so UK passengers must clear immigration and customs procedures before entering and departing. Further checks must also be carried out at every station in mainland Europe served by an international train coming from, or destined for, the UK.
In preparation for the launch of new routes, Eurostar will this summer run a weekly trial service linking London with Lyon and the South of France. But what many passengers do not realise is that when they return to the UK, they will be ordered off the train at Lille. They and their baggage will be screened by the UKBA before they rejoin their train for London. This kerfuffle will add some 80 minutes to the inbound journey time (screening at Lille is not required for the outward journey). However much they are justified, the UKBA rules will hamper the development of through international rail service from the UK.
Are such rail services even competitive? When UK business people are tempted to take the train beyond Paris and Brussels, they are amazed at the expense and difficulty of booking. If you travel at short notice then chances are you will be quoted “silly money” for your tickets. A standard class rail ticket might set you back what you’d pay for a business class flight.
MartynSinclair, a contributor to our online forum (businesstraveller.com/discussion), wrote: “I am going to Frankfurt next week and there is an exhibition causing a shortage of suitable flight times.” But when he investigated the rail alternative he was shocked at the price quoted – €450 return for standard class.
“Using two or three different ticketing systems and operators was just too bitty,” he said. “Late or missed connections would cause problems and, finally, the cost does not yet make European travel from the UK a viable option.”
After reading one of my recent blogs, another forum poster, alexpo1, was tempted to sample the new high-speed service between Paris and Madrid. “I have to be in Madrid next Thursday [six days’ time] so I had a look at the prices. I was quoted around €300 one-way [€600 return] for a standard class ticket from Luxembourg. I would love to try it in future but I’m afraid on this occasion I will be flying.”
Why is international rail so expensive? There is a lack of integration between the networks. Booking systems are not as sophisticated as those of the airlines, and operators don’t usually see eye to eye on pricing. Interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours show last year, Siim Kallas, the European Commission vice-president and commissioner for transport, said: “I keep telling the rail authorities that they must integrate their systems, otherwise it won’t work.” He added: “If I want to take the train from London to Prague I can find the timings. But I can’t book a single [ie, one] ticket.”
In the absence of through fares, many passengers end up travelling with collections of tickets. Booking an air ticket on a popular route such as London-Barcelona will take ten or 15 minutes at most, but try to organise the same trip economically by rail and it might take over an hour, because instead of booking with a single website, you may have to use three rail sites and ensure all the services connect.
Rail enthusiasts’ site seat61.com suggests buying three sets of return tickets – London-Paris with Eurostar, Paris to Figueres (on the Franco-Spanish border) with SNCF, and Figueres-Barcelona with Spain’s RENFE. Hopefully, with the planned introduction of direct Paris-Barcelona high-speed trains next month, this process will become easier.
At the time of writing, Eurostar’s site recommends passengers book flexible tickets separately when travelling from London via Brussels to Amsterdam or Cologne. Unlike with air, rail passengers with separate tickets can be protected against missed connections under what is termed “CIV provisions”, or the bureaucratically named “International Convention for the Transportation of Passengers”.
I say “can be” because it varies. Michael Bartlett, managing director of agent European Rail, says: “At Brussels or Lille, if passengers miss their connection they’ll be put on the next train. One of our clients heading for Berlin missed his onward DB train at Brussels. As that was the last service of the day, DB paid for a hotel.” But some countries may not honour the rule – Bartlett says one client wasn’t helped when a connection was lost in Milan.
This lack of tariff integration does passengers a disservice. For example, when Fyra began running between Brussels and Amsterdam, Eurostar axed its flat fare ticket to Holland. Nothing has taken its place. Kate Andrews, director of rail booking website loco2.com, says: “It is a pity that political wrangling between rail networks stunts the progress of inter-operability in Europe. The ‘Any Dutch Station’ tariff was one of our most popular fares and its withdrawal is a big loss to customers.”
Where operators have come up with offers, such as DB’s Spezial for travel from London to Germany, their availability is so limited that they are practically useless for business people. Taxpayers and governments ought to be concerned that high-speed lines built at huge expense remain under-utilised.
During last year’s parliamentary inquiry on international rail travel, seat61.com founder Mark Smith said: “London-Cologne is a simple two-leg journey taking just over four hours with a change in Brussels. It ought to be an attractive and air-competitive journey. Billions have been spent to build the high-speed lines that enable such a fast and competitive journey. But flawed booking processes act as a barrier to people using it.” So through international trains would be a step in the right direction by providing simple and realistic pricing.
