Eurostar Group is a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

created by SNCF Voyageurs, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, NMBS/SNCB, and Federated Hermes Infrastructure in 2022 with the aim of merging the operations of Thalys and Eurostar high-speed rail services between

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

History

In September 2019, Eurostar and Thalys shareholders introduced a plan to merge the two companies, a project named ''Green Speed''. Both companies already operate in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, with Eurostar also operating in the United Kingdom, and Thalys also operating in Germany, and

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

already owns a majority stake in both of them. The project aims at reducing costs, and at providing a more seamless experience to passengers, with the use of a single ticketing system and loyalty program. After being delayed by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the project resumed in October 2021. It was announced that both services would be operated under the ''Eurostar'' brand, the ''Thalys'' brand being dropped, with the existing Eurostar service being renamed ''Eurostar Blue'' and the existing Thalys service ''Eurostar Red''. The

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

approved the planned merger on 29 March 2022. In April 2022, the new holding company, Eurostar Group, was established in Belgium. It is owned by the previous shareholders of Eurostar and Thalys, with SNCF retaining its majority stake.

Criticism

The European Passengers’ Federation believes that the merger will give the new company a monopoly position of the market they serve, and lead to higher ticket prices for passengers.

Passenger numbers and revenue

In January 2024, Eurostar Group announced that its passenger numbers in 2023 are back to pre-Covid levels, as total passenger numbers reached 18.9 million in 2023, a 22% increase from 2022 numbers. Eurostar Group's stated target is to reach 30 million passengers by 2030.

References

High-speed rail in Europe Holding companies {{DEFAULTSORT:Eurostar Group