European Operators Launch High-Speed Alliance

By Anonymous

SEVEN European high-speed train operators launched a new alliance called Railteam to offer what they call seamless long-distance travel between the countries they serve, and to compete more effectively with short-haul airlines. Austrian Federal Railways (OBB), Belgian National Railways (SNCB), Eurostar UK, French National Railways (SNCF), German Rail (DB), NS Hispeed, and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) say they will offer improved connections between each others’ services and a single point of contact for ticket purchases.

The Railteam brand will be rolled out across all seven operators’ high-speed services, with improved and easier booking to destinations across the network. It will mean passengers will be able to buy tickets to any point on the network from anywhere in Europe through Railteam, thanks to a euro30 million investment in booking systems.

Railteam expects 25 million passengers a year to travel on high- speed trains in Europe by 2010, with significant increases in business and leisure travel expected.

Copyright Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation Aug 2007

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