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Eurostar—A Seamless Journey to the Continent

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Eurostar—A Seamless Journey to the Continent Eurostar is the fast rail service directly an official partner, Eurostar is at the heart In addition to passenger services, Eurostar linking the UK to France and Belgium of events during this year of celebrations. trains offer same- or next-day parcel via the Channel Tunnel. It started Ticket prices meet all budgets—leisure services between London, Paris and operating in 1994, providing services travellers enjoy the cheapest fares with Brussels under the Esprit Europe brand- between city centres. The opening of permanent lead-in short break fares from name. And guide dogs are now also being the first section of the Channel Tunnel £59 return. carried between London Waterloo, Paris Rail Link (CTRL) on 28 September 2003 Since starting operations in November and Brussels under the UK’s Pet Travel significantly reduced journey times 1994, Eurostar has more than doubled Scheme (PETS). between the UK and the Continent. the total number of passengers Following the opening of the section travelling (by air or rail) between New Standards for from Dollands Moor near the Channel London and Paris/Brussels, selling a International Train Travel Tunnel at Folkestone to Fawkham total of more than 55 million tickets. Junction near Swanley, the journey time Significant differences in the rail networks Eurostar is at the leading edge of of the fastest service between London between the UK, France and Belgium had innovation in the rail industry, setting new Waterloo and Paris was reduced by to be solved before establishing Eurostar standards for train travel. It was one of 40 minutes to 2 hours 35 minutes. services. European rail networks focus the first rail operators to introduce The fastest journey between Waterloo primarily on domestic services, using business lounges, a loyalty programme, and Brussels is now 2 hours 15 minutes different technologies—especially in premium class and meal-inclusive tickets and that between Waterloo and Lille is power supply and signalling—as well as for passengers in first class, successfully now only 1 hour and 40 minutes. in commercial areas, such as ticketing. building up a significant market share by There are up to 14 services to Paris and 9 Eurostar has successfully overcome these offering a number of advantages over to Brussels each day. In addition, up to 9 obstacles to operate safely and efficiently other transport modes, including: trains stop at Lille in northern France, and across three territories. • Seamless travel between city centres up to four stop at Calais-Fréhun en route. Also, 14 trains call daily at the Ashford International terminal, which serves as the principal passenger gateway from Kent. There are direct daily services from Waterloo and Ashford right to the gates of Disneyland Resort Paris. During the winter holiday season, two services operate each week from Waterloo and Ashford to Moûtiers and Bourg-St-Maurice in the French Alps. A direct service to Avignon in Provence runs on Saturdays during the summer. Over 100 destinations across France, Belgium and the Netherlands are easily reached using connecting services with through ticketing. For example, Lyon is only 5 hours from London while Marseille is 7 hours. Brussels-Midi/Zuid is the gateway for the Netherlands with easy connections to Amsterdam (about 6 hours from London). Eurostar is the official carrier for Lille 2004–European Capital of Culture and 2004 is also the Centenary of the Entente Cordiale between the UK and France. As Eurostar train on new UK high-speed line in Kent (Eurostar Group) Copyright © 2005 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Japan Railway & Transport Review 40 • March 2005 29 Feature 40 Years of High-speed Railways by the February 2004 introduction of new Channel Tunnel Rail Link uniforms designed by Jacqueline de Baer for terminal staff and train crew. St Pancras International Terminal North London UK Rail speed record and faster London journeys Before the first section of the CTRL was Waterloo International Southfleet Terminal opened to commercial operations in South London September 2003, the UK rail speed Fawkham record was broken in July 2003 by a Junction Eurostar test train running over the CTRL at 334.7 km/h. Eurostar trains can Ashford operate at maximum speeds of 300 km/h on the CTRL and the high-speed lines in France and Belgium. When the second Channel section of the CTRL is opened to a new Tunnel international station at St Pancras in 2007, the fastest journey times will be reduced by another 15 minutes. Rolling stock The current fleet totals 27 trains operating between the UK, France and Belgium. A CTRL Section 1 further three trains are being used on domestic services in France and a fourth CTRL Section 2 is based in Belgium. Seven regional train sets are owned in the UK. Some are leased to Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) • Frequent services refurbishment programme covering all for services between London and • Better service punctuality than service aspects in all three countries, Yorkshire while others are used for testing. competitors including carriage interiors, lounges, Each 400-m set is formed from 18 • Comfort and space terminals, ticket offices, check-in, dining passenger carriages and two power cars. • Time efficiency—shorter door-to-door facilities, and staff uniforms. The international services offer 766 journey times than air The first phase was completed with the seats—almost twice the capacity of a • Cost competitiveness unveiling of new enlarged business Boeing 747—with 560 seats in standard • Convenient fast 10-minute check-in lounges at Waterloo, Paris Nord and class and 206 in first class. The regional for premium and business first class Brussels-Midi/Zuid. The business lounges trains are shorter with 14 passenger full-fare ticket holders with bar, communication facilities and carriages and have 444 seats in standard • No queues or baggage reclaim waiting comfortable seating, providing an oasis of class and 114 in first class. on arrival in city centre calm for the business traveller en route Since Eurostar trains cannot be lengthened • Clear and generous ticket refund from one European capital to another, are or shortened according to passenger policy in event of trains delays, etc. open to all holders of premium, business demand, load factor is not a key • Eurostar Frequent Traveller loyalty first and business value first tickets as well performance indicator (unlike airlines, programme with benefits for regular as to Eurostar carte blanche holders. which can deploy different sizes of aircraft users, including free travel, etc. A fleet-wide refurbishment of both first- to match load). and standard-class carriage interiors Train and terminal began in mid-2004 based on a detailed Safety refurbishments design created by an in-house design The Eurostar Group has an excellent safety £35 million is being invested in a theme. This restyling is complemented record with each of its trains having a full 30 Japan Railway & Transport Review 40 • March 2005 Copyright © 2005 EJRCF. All rights reserved. range of safety features, making them The current bias towards Britons can be 2003, the Customer Relations team had among the safest trains in the world. Since explained by geography and travel around 100,000 contacts with customers the trains operate through the Channel patterns but also results from the strength by letter, phone, email, or through Tunnel, their fireproofing systems are of Sterling in recent years, making the feedback forms. unique and include extensive use of fire- Continent relatively cheap and the UK resistant materials, heavy insulation of relatively expensive as tourist destinations. Punctuality and reliability cables, and fire doors between carriages. The majority (54%) of passengers are pure During the first 6 months of 2004, 89% The driver’s cab features modern train leisure travellers; 27% are travelling for of trains arrived on time or early, protection systems, including the French business and the remaining 19% are comparing favourably with 77% over the TVM-430 system, which is used on the visiting friends or relatives. same period in the previous year before new CTRL. The UK Train Protection and The customer base is continuing to the CTRL opened. Warning System (TPWS) is also installed. develop as international travel becomes All train crew are trained in first aid. easier and business, social and leisure Internet ticketing activity more international. In addition to the other traditional Market share ticketing systems, 20% of UK ticket sales Despite intense competition, Eurostar has Customer satisfaction are handled via the company website established itself as the leading carrier to Passengers show high customer (http://www.eurostar.com), which also Brussels and Paris; it has more than 65% satisfaction and the most recent survey offers information and guidance about of the London–Paris rail/air market and over showed an overall score of 7.71 out of 10 destinations and acts as a unified online 50% of the London–Brussels rail/air market. for journey satisfaction. booking facility for all markets. Award-winning advertising campaigns Most bookings by independent travellers Regular customers can create have helped build a strong brand with in the UK are made via the Contact Centre, personalized accounts for easy access to high awareness and approval levels. The which independent undercover shopping relevant information; recent most recent spontaneous brand awareness surveys (BPA International Survey) have enhancements include pricing figures are 46% in the UK, 41% in France consistently ranked as the best travel and information and promotions matching and 44% in Belgium. transport related call centre in the country customers’ needs. compared to airlines including British Customer base Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic. The Customers come from every country in the Centre receives an average of 2 million Corporate Structure world—approximately 57% are British, calls a year.
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