EUROPE: The branding for the merged Eurostar and Thalys high speed rail businesses was unveiled in Brussels on January 24. The Thalys brand used on services between France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands is to be dropped in favour of cross-Channel operator Eurostar’s name, which was selected because of high consumer awareness at a European and global level.
A brand identity created by DesignStudio will be rolled out from October, with all ‘customer touchpoints’ including the 25 Eurostar and 26 Thalys trainsets to carry a ‘sleek new look’ under the Eurostar brand from the end of the year.
L’Etoile du Nord
The brand identity is based on the heritage of Eurostar and Thalys, ‘fit for the digital age and designed to help the business grow’, with a palette of 10 colours including ‘warmer shades representative of the Thalys brand’
Explaining the branding, Eurostar Group said it ’has chosen an iconic star as its symbol and new logo inspired byl’Etoile du Nord, the original service linking Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, and as a tribute to the first Eurostar logo’. An animated spark graphic ‘acts as a compass symbolising the brand’s purpose to spark new opportunities, connecting people, places, businesses, and cultures across borders’.
Growth target
Eurostar Group is owned by France’s SNCF Voyages Développement (55·75%), Belgium’s SNCB (18·50%), investor CDPQ (19·31%), and funds managed by Federated Hermes Infrastructure (6·44%). The holding company is based in Brussels and holds 100% of the shares of London based Eurostar International Ltd (Eurostar) and Brussels based THI Factory SA (Thalys).
In 2022, Eurostar carried 8·3 million passengers and Thalys 6·5 million, giving a combined total of 14·8 million which the merged operator hopes to grow to 30 million in 2030.
| Annual ridership | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Eurostar | Thalys |
| 2017 | 10·3 | 7·2 |
| 2018 | 11·0 | 7·5 |
| 2019 | 11·1 | 7·8 |
| 2020 | 2·5 | 2·5 |
| 2021 | 2·7 | 2·7 |
| 2022 | 8·3 | 6·5 |
| 2030 (combined target) | 30 | |
Eurostar Group CEO Gwendoline Cazenave said the branding would ‘raise our visibility, help us become the backbone of sustainable high speed rail in Europe, and support us in our ambition to double the number of passengers over the next decade’.
She said ‘our customers will be able to experience the same quality of service they know and love across our unified network’.
There will be a single loyalty programme covering all destinations across the current Eurostar and Thalys networks, as well as a single website and booking system from October.
Eurostar said ’for continental travellers this will improve ease of booking direct and connecting journeys to London, and for UK passengers it will offer simple, seamless connections between London and German destinations including Köln’.
