SAINT-DENIS, France — France’s state-owned rail company, SNCF, and its Belgium counterpart, SNCB, have proposed a merger of the Eurostar and Thalys high speed rail companies to create one operator that would serve five countries.
The proposal, labelled “Green Speed,” was announced Friday. The combined company would serve England, France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Its components currently operate 112 trains daily and carry 18.5 million passengers annually.
The press release announcing the proposal said it would provide a platform for increasing ridership on the high speed system to 30 million passengers annual by 2030, maximize the use of renewable energy sources to aid the European Union’s goal of reducing carbon emissions, and simplify international travel for its customers by allowing a single ticket and better connections to more destinations.
SNCF holds a majority stake in both Eurostar and Thalys, Politico.eu reports, noting the proposal must be approved by the boards of both companies, and will need to be cleared by EU competition officials.
