▶ Last week, the independent operator European Sleeper launched a new direct rail service between Belgium and the Alps – stopping in the Netherlands, Germany and Austria along the way.
▶ Furthermore, it is a night train, with both sleeper coaches (both couchettes & private compartments) and standard class seating.
▶ Last but not least, it is Open Access, i.e. 100% commercially driven, meaning that this train operates without PSO taxpayer subsidy.
The Single European Rail Area (SERA) can be a cause of our common prosperity – and introduce new cross-border services – if only it were not so complex.
ALLRAIL’s Katharina Dekeyser says “Here we see an example of what could happen across Europe. Entrepreneurs are starting new direct cross-border long-distance passenger rail services. This will make the EU smaller”.
However, if Europe wants more services like these, then less complexity is necessary – and 90% of barriers are caused by the industry itself.
Essential reforms are still necessary, such as:
- All rail tickets shown and sold at all rail ticket vendors, both at incumbent in-house and third parties;
- Thriving rolling stock supply and leasing market, at equal commercial terms to those operators who benefit from an implicit state guarantee;
- Track Access Charges (TACs) at direct cost, without an inflated premium.
Otherwise, services like this new one will remain few and far between – and the EU will slide back into an era of unjustified PSOs for cross-border rail. But under this scenario, with government budgets being increasingly restricted, there will not be very many of them.