What are the reasons for the rise of rail for business travel?
AURÉLIE LUCAS, VOYAGES-SNCF B2B Sales Director for Spain and Portugal.
Traveling by train for business purposes is all the rage in Europe. Since 2010, Voyages Sncf.eu España's sales growth for the business travel segment has been in double figures, a result that is undoubtedly very significant and illustrates this trend.
Among the reasons for this considerable increase are the changes in the travel policies of companies as a result of the crisis, the progressive internationalization of medium-sized companies and the need to save time in their travels improving productivity, thanks to the facilities offered by the railroad to work on board.
To all this we must add the gradual interest of companies to control their emissions and implement strategies for sustainable development in their travels.
Neither can we forget that the railroad in Europe has been able to approach the needs of the business traveler from the most practical point of view with specific products and services, such as the existence of lounges;meeting rooms in some stations, the separation of spaces in the cars or the loyalty cards, which are used to accumulate points and benefits. In addition, the fare policy contemplates options of flexibility for the change or cancellation of reservations. On the other hand, the train is not exclusive of air transport, far from it. The truth is that in recent years we have seen a boost to the so-called intermodality, so that there are now agreements between airlines and rail operators to combine both modes of transport. The list of airports with train stations is long: Dusseldorf, Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, Lyon, Frankfurt, Stockholm, Berlin, Geneva, Zurich, Rome, Milan, Copenhagen, Oslo, etc.