Also what has happened since Eurostar-Thalys merger? - no new routes - no progress re-opening Ashford, Ebbsfleet or Calais - no new trains ordered - Any Belgian station and Brussels meaning any Brussels station abolished - still a pain to take bikes - prices still sky high Is there ANY positive? - ThreadSky

jonworth.eu • 51 days ago

Also what has happened since Eurostar-Thalys merger?
- no new routes
- no progress re-opening Ashford, Ebbsfleet or Calais
- no new trains ordered
- Any Belgian station and Brussels meaning any Brussels station abolished
- still a pain to take bikes
- prices still sky high

Is there ANY positive?

Reposted from The Man in Seat 61

Eurostar to stop selling tickets to 'Any Belgian Station' from 31 March, you'll need to buy a separate ticket from Brussels to your Belgian destination.
Multi-modal integration? The rail industry can't even manage single-mode integration, even if it already exists!
help.eurostar.com/faq/uk-en/qu...

Comments

jakubkajtman.bsky.social•50 days ago

Due to the hight prices by Eurostar we finally have alternative train connections between Brussels and Amsterdam & Brussels and Paris. That’s not bad.

jakubkajtman.bsky.social•50 days ago

Alternative and competitive. The train the Amsterdam has already been there but was much slower and ugly.

jonworth.eu•50 days ago

Errr there’s been an IC train there since the 1960s. Ok, it has doubled in frequency but it’s hardly new!

gabrielstravels.bsky.social•50 days ago

Yes , I've heard it's been diverted to Amsterdam Zuid which for some it's not the end of the world but for now I'd definitely be paying for eurostar to avoid that.

jonworth.eu•50 days ago

Different pros and cons - the EuroCity Direct is a LOT cheaper than Eurostar. Depends where your end destination is to make a judgment as to whether Zuid is too problematic.

gabrielstravels.bsky.social•50 days ago

Yes , I'm aware of that . Given that I'd need to use eurostar to reach Brussels in the first place , it makes more sense for me to stick with the one brand as much as possible.

pdfguru.bsky.social•48 days ago

But they bragged about doubling services by 2026…

jonworth.eu•48 days ago

For the media. I see nothing to indicate they’re doing that.

pdfguru.bsky.social•48 days ago

Yeah; my remark was very sarcastic.

3811015.bsky.social•48 days ago

Positive:
- They still operate multiple times daily
- They had no big catastrophic accident.
- Ridership grew mostly back after pandemic and Brexit
- They didnt cut personell
- the fleet has still the same size
- they sell tickets via travel agencies again.

3811015.bsky.social•48 days ago

- and the best achievement: they didnt score last on the european comparison of railway operators.

jonworth.eu•48 days ago

Your positive is:
- didn't worsen, but still less than 2019
- as it should be
- as all railways did, but they're still below 2019
- no personel cuts, OK, that's positive
- why cut fleet when they claim to expand?
- tickets via agencies, yes, positive

So 1 positive

3811015.bsky.social•48 days ago

It seems you didnt catch my dark humor. 😉

There is actually 0 positive in there.

3811015.bsky.social•48 days ago

No personel cuts is a dark joke on that they already cut hard and excessive enough, that they have no more fireable workers. And management is always somehow magicly excempt from all cuts.

positivelad.me•50 days ago

I’d love to use the Eurostar more often for work and seeing friends. But it’s hard to justify at often three or four times the price of flying.

mainline421.bsky.social•50 days ago

Cheaper fares for London-Colonge

duncanbourne.bsky.social•51 days ago

For Thalys, sure. For passengers, no.

webguy.bsky.social•50 days ago

It probably has gotten worse for Thalys travellers too. The frequent traveller programs have been integrated, the old Thalys site shuttered, etc

vanbesien.social•50 days ago

Has any effort been made so far to get the Frecciarossa 1000 approved for Belgium and the Netherlands? I think that Trenitalia might be a serious new entrant on that route.

jonworth.eu•50 days ago

Not yet. But with the new tranche of Frecciarossa on order currently (first was outshopped for Innotrans) I expect that to start this year or next.

bamfordthefourth.bsky.social•50 days ago

Competition cannot come soon enough on all Thalys routes.

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