Through ticket to Germany, Austria, Switzerland - agreement being ended

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Simon Calder in the Independent

At a time when more European travellers than ever appear to be keen to travel by rail rather than air, Eurostar is choosing to make life more difficult for passengers hoping to travel by train from the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) to Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The cross-Channel train operator is ending its agreement with Deutsche Bahn that allows the German rail operator to sell a wide range of tickets between London and key business and leisure cities such as Cologne, Basel and Salzburg.

Using so-called “summated fares,” passengers take the train from London St Pancras to Brussels Midi, and change there to German high-speed trains.

Prices start at under €60 (£51) one way for shorter trips, with tickets to Berlin, Munich and other more distant destinations for under €70 (£60). These are competitive with fares on British Airways, easyJet and Eurowings, the Lufthansa subsidiary.

My personal "customer-centric" view is that I should be easily able to book a ticket from Melksham to Thun (and back) easily, at as good a price as I would get going through a series of sites, and with backup should connections fail to make at any point.  I don't think we there anyway, but could this withdrawal be a step in the wrong direction, or is it in preparation for a more appropriate replacement?

[Robin Summerhill]

As I see it, anything that puts obstacles in the way of passengers buying tickets is, by definition, a bad idea.

If it is in preparation for a more appropriate replacement, then it is a case of having the cart and the horse the wrong way round. The more appropriate replacement should be in place first.

That said, it is not always possible to book through tickets by air to your final destination (if neither your carrier nor one of their worldwide partners fly there) but you would be hard pressed to find any airline that flies a route saying you can only book half way and then you'll need another ticket.

[ChrisB]

yup, nothing planned to re[place - it's E* being difficult.

No protection from E* being late, so you'll need flexible tickets or be prepared to take a chance - so no 30minute connections unless you're *bvery* brave. And likely higher fares as a result with time to kill in Brussels.

Hopefully being taken up by the EU^» (European Union - about) transport committee....