Alex McWhirter has his say on the issues facing rail passengers
Although Eurostar frequently runs between London, Paris and Brussels, through-travel trips beyond these cities are unavailable (apart from a handful of seasonal services).
As Business Traveller has reported in the past, TOCs (train operating companies) wishing to cross borders face all sorts of issues ranging from different technical standards to incompatible booking systems. And if this wasn’t enough, the UK Border Agency insists that all passengers travelling by rail to the UK be cleared at their departure station.
While Eurostar can master the different systems in the UK, the Channel Tunnel, Belgium and France, it cannot cope with those systems that apply in the Netherlands or Germany. Through train services will happen at some stage, thanks to the arrival of newer, more sophisticated trainsets, but their start date continues to be postponed because the new trains need extensive testing.
Eurostar hopes to launch London-Amsterdam in December 2016, but Germany’s Deutsche Bahn (DB) can give no start date at all. So the news that Eurostar has teamed up with DB to offer through fares between London and numerous points in Germany via Brussels is to be welcomed.
In truth, Eurostar has sold tickets to Germany in the past, but passengers changed to Thalys services at Brussels for Cologne and the fares were uncompetitive. The new DB tie-up allows passengers to book right through to a range of cities across Germany at much more attractive prices.
In early February, it was possible to book online to Aachen, Bonn, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich. A further six cities are bookable via Eurostar’s call centre – Berlin, Bremen, Duisburg, Essen, Hamburg and Hannover.
Passengers take the Eurostar to Brussels and then board any onward high-speed ICE train from there into Germany, changing where necessary. “Free seating” (where you sit where you like on the train of your choice) is only offered on the ICE service.
The confusing bit is the fact that when passengers select, say, London-Frankfurt, the display shows a reservation for London-Brussels but the price quoted is to Frankfurt. Travellers must then click a separate link to determine train schedules between Brussels and Germany.
Adequate connecting time must be allowed, bearing in mind that when passengers return from Germany, they must clear two immigration checks (for Belgium and the UK) at Brussels Midi plus a further security check.
Fares are competitive with airline tariffs but much will depend on when you book and travel. In some cases, the Eurostar/DB rail option will cost more than flying. It means that in the case of London-Frankfurt, the rail fare will be about £200 return, with first class priced upwards of £300.
Judging by the comments posted on our forum, even our experienced readers find it hard to comprehend. One also wonders why it has taken Eurostar so long to come up with such a simple ticketing solution. Rail author Christian Wolmar (@christianwolmar) tweets: “This has only taken [Eurostar] nearly 20 years to sort out.”
Kate Andrews, co-founder of online rail agent loco2.com, says: “These links have been a long time coming but it’s a pity that no seat reservations are possible for the ICE as it can get busy.
“Given a choice, the vast majority of our customers will opt for an ICE seat reservation. People may wish to sit together, or our UK customers might think [rightly or wrongly] that it’s standing room only.”
She adds: “Price-wise, and assuming the availability is there, one of our London-Spezials [a promotional fare marketed by DB from London to Germany] is not really much more expensive.”
Why can’t Eurostar offer seat selection on ICE trains? Well, things might change in future, but the SNCF (French Railways) booking system used by Eurostar (the majority shareholder of which is SNCF) cannot “talk” with the rival DB system. DB’s London-Spezial can provide a seat booking on both Eurostar and the ICE because it uses the DB system.
It’s worth noting that whereas seat reservations are compulsory for Eurostar, Thalys and TGV high-speed trains (which are managed by SNCF), this rule does not apply to Germany’s ICE. (See Platform).
See what I mean about international rail being complicated? Still, Eurostar has come up with an interesting solution, albeit something that should have happened when it launched in 1994.
