Sophie Fleming, head of Trainline Business
For years, the Channel Crossing has been dominated by one operator, Eurostar. However, following the UK rail regulator’s decision to approve Virgin Trains operating services between London and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam from 2030, competition is gathering pace. The prospect of multiple operators competing for passengers travelling between the UK and Europe is becoming very real.
For businesses on both sides of the Channel, this is a real win. Competition brings greater choice, flexibility and potentially better pricing. Meanwhile, stronger connections can give businesses better access to customers, colleagues and commercial opportunities across Europe.
This increased choice is already sought after by the British public. Trainline’s research found that 53 per cent of Britons want greater choice when travelling by train to continental Europe, while 38 per cent say more operators would make them more likely to travel internationally by rail. That being said, more operators also mean more fares, services and journey options to navigate. If we want businesses to reap the benefits of a more open market, we need to make sure its complexity stays behind the scenes, while the benefits of rail travel are put in the spotlight.
The value of choice?
There is already evidence showing what open rail access has achieved elsewhere in Europe. The European Commission found that increased competition leads to lower ticket prices and increased service frequency. Italy saw a 31 per cent reduction in prices following the introduction of competition from high-speed rail operator Italo in 2012. Meanwhile, Austria benefited from a 40 per cent increase in frequency, following the entry of WESTbahn into the market.
This is exactly the kind of outcome businesses want from greater cross-Channel competition. Yet, as the number of options grows, added complexity can make the right choice harder to identify.
Business travellers, unlike those travelling for leisure, are juggling their journeys around meetings, customers and other work commitments. They shouldn't also have to spend time searching across multiple operators or piecing together different options to decipher which journey makes the most sense. If accessing the right choice only adds to employee workload, the convenience that competition is supposed to create can be lost. This is particularly pertinent when our research found that 62 per cent of business travellers already feel they spend too long comparing travel options.
The opportunity, therefore, is to minimise fragmentation alongside competition. Combining operators and journey options lets employees compare choices without dealing with the underlying complexity.
Simplicity for travellers and for businesses
Making those choices easier for employees is only half of the challenge. Behind every business journey is an organisation that needs to manage it.
Businesses still need full visibility over bookings, spend and policy compliance. However, as greater competition spreads bookings across multiple operators and platforms, maintaining that oversight becomes harder – just as the expanding market becomes more valuable.
As the rail market opens up, businesses will need a clear way to manage the growing number of journeys available to their employees. Bringing bookings, payments and reporting under one platform allows employees to choose the journey that best fits into their working day, while businesses retain a clear view of their travel activity and spend.
There shouldn't have to be a trade-off between employee choice and business oversight. A successful open rail market should provide employees with greater flexibility without creating more administration for them or for the people managing their travel.
Making change practical
Ultimately, we shouldn't judge the success of cross-Channel competition simply by counting the number of operators running through the Channel Tunnel. For businesses, the test is much more practical: has it become easier for an employee to get where they need to be, at a time and price that works for them and the wider company?
The expectation must be that it will. Across industries, competition has consistently helped expand choice, improve services and deliver better value for customers. For businesses travelling across the Channel, that should mean more convenient services, competitive prices and greater flexibility.
Done right, international rail will become practical for a wider range of cross-border business journeys that would normally default to air, giving companies more ways to connect their employees with customers, colleagues and opportunities across Europe, while reducing their carbon emissions.
The next step is to make sure those new choices are simple to navigate. If the industry can combine greater competition with an easy booking experience, businesses will be well placed to benefit from a more competitive cross-Channel rail market.