Eurostar is Europe’s worst-ranked rail operator – study

An analysis of train ticket prices found Eurostar charged nearly twice the European average price per kilometre. Photo / Yvette Cook

Eurostar is the worst-performing rail operator among 27 companies in Europe, with pricey and unreliable service, while Italy’s Trenitalia tops the list, a study released on Monday said.

“Our analysis shows that ticket prices do not correlate with higher service quality,” concluded the report by Transport and Environment (T&E).

While Austria’s “OBB and Trenitalia offer a strong price-to-quality ratio, operators like Eurostar charge nearly twice the European average price per kilometre, yet fail to deliver better services”, it said.

Eurostar, which links France, Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands, charges prices that are twice the European average yet ranked only 14th on reliability.

Instead, Trenitalia and Austria’s OBB offer the best price-quality ratio, the report said.

The research group looked at eight criteria on medium and long-distance routes.

Price was the most important, but the study also considered reliability, discount programmes, compensation policies in the event of delays, passenger experience and the existence of night trains or bicycle spaces.

Trenitalia was followed by Switzerland’s SBB, with the Czech Republic’s RegioJet third in the overall ranking. France’s SNCF was fifth, just behind OBB.

The study said all companies could improve their on-time performance.

“The reliability of major rail operators in Europe remains disappointing. Of the 25 operators with punctuality data, only 11 achieve a rate above 80%,” it said.

Germany’s Deutsche Bahn, the largest train operator in Europe, which is struggling with an ageing network, was 25th in reliability and 16th overall.

T&E said the opening up of competition has improved service on several lines such as Madrid-Barcelona and Milan-Rome, but noted that privatisation did not improve train service in Britain.

T&E also called on governments to invest in track networks to improve reliability and reduce fees on train operators in order to reduce ticket prices.

– Agence France-Presse