EUROPE: In what the two incumbents have termed ‘a co-operation between historic operators’, SNCF and SNCB launched a low-cost loco-hauled Ouigo service between Paris and Brussels on December 17.
SNCF’s Chief Executive for TGV-Intercités Alain Krakovitch said the move is a response to ‘high competition with carbonised transport like cars and coach’.
Since the launch of Thalys (now Eurostar) high speed services between Paris and Brussels in the mid-1990s, conventional passenger services between the two capitals have steadily withered amid criticism from rail advocates that SNCF, which holds the majority stake in Eurostar Group, was pushing travellers to its premium service while stifling competition from potential new entrants.
Over the past decade, various proposals from new entrants including Flix Mobility and Trenitalia for open access services have been floated, but so far little progress has been made towards making these a reality.
The newly launched Ouigo service offers three return journeys per day with an end-to-end travel time of around 3 h. Intermediate stops are made at Creil, Aulnoye-Aymeries and Mons, and from April one train in each direction will call at St-Quentin as well. Thalys trains ceased serving Mons in 2015 when the operator cited a lack of rolling stock equipped with the relevant train control and protection equipment.
The Brussels service marks the first expansion of the Ouigo Train Classique concept outside France; the low-cost loco-hauled offering was launched by SNCF in 2022 on routes linking Paris with Nantes and Lyon.
The Franco-Belgian trains are being jointly operated by SNCF and SNCB using rakes of Belgian I11 coaches powered by Siemens Class 18 multi-system electric locos. In time, a pool of rolling stock dedicated to the service will be rebranded in Ouigo colours. The drivers and train managers are provided by both operators.
Fares start at €10 for a single Paris – Brussels journey. SNCF reports that 50 000 tickets were sold in the two weeks after retail channels opened in November, which Ouigo CEO Jérôme Lafon described as ‘a great result’.
