Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service in Western Europe, connecting Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
The TGV is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated mainly by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 1974 and presented the project to President Georges Pompidou who approved it. Originally designed as turbotrains to be powered by gas turbines, TGV prototypes evolved into electric trains with the 1973 oil crisis. In 1976 the SNCF ordered 87 high-speed trains from Alstom. Following the inaugural service between Paris and Lyon in 1981 on the LGV Sud-Est, the network, centered on Paris, has expanded to connect major cities across France and in neighbouring countries on a combination of high-speed and conventional lines. The TGV network in France carries about 110 million passengers a year.
Thalys was a brand name used for high-speed train services between Paris Gare du Nord via Brussels-South to either Amsterdam Centraal or to German cities in the Rhein-Ruhr, including Aachen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Essen and Dortmund. Since 29 September 2023, the services operate under the Eurostar name; sometimes referred to as Eurostar Red, based on the colour of the trains.
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffic along with that of Monaco, including the TGV, on France's high-speed rail network. Its functions include operation of railway services for passengers and freight, as well as maintenance and signalling of rail infrastructure. The railway network consists of about 35,000 km (22,000 mi) of route, of which 2,600 km (1,600 mi) are high-speed lines and 14,500 km (9,000 mi) electrified. About 14,000 trains are operated daily.
The Interrail Pass is a rail pass available to European citizens and residents. Citizens of other countries residing outside Europe may purchase the Eurail Pass instead. Types of Interrail Pass include the Interrail Global Pass and the Interrail One Country Pass.
The Eurail Pass, introduced in 1959 and formerly known as Europass or Eurorail Pass, is a rail pass which permits travel through 33 European countries on nearly all railroads and several shipping lines. The Eurail Group, based in Utrecht, is responsible for the marketing and management of the Eurail and Interrail passes. The company is owned by over 35 European railway and shipping companies. The Eurail Pass is available to non-European residents, and the Interrail Pass is available to European residents. The passes, which provide access to 250,000 kilometres (160,000 mi) of European railway, are used by over 33,000 travellers annually.
Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy also appearing on platform displays as Marne-la-Vallée Chessy – Parcs Disneyland, is a large combined RER, and high-speed rail station in Chessy, Seine-et-Marne, France, about 30 km (19 mi) east of Paris, located on the LGV Interconnexion Est opened in 1994. The station is inside the Disneyland Paris resort, close to the entrances to the theme parks and at the entrance to Disney Village. The station opened as an extension of RER A in April 1992, in conjunction with the opening of the theme park, with The Walt Disney Company contributing €38.1 million of the €126.5 million cost. The high-speed rail part of the station opened in May 1994, two years after the RER portion of station.
Railteam B.V. is a closed company with limited liability (B.V.) based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It operates as an alliance of European railway companies in the field of international high-speed rail in Europe, modelled on the airline alliances and was founded in Brussels on 2 July 2007.
A train ticket is a transit pass ticket issued by a railwayoperator that enables the bearer to travel on the operator's network or a partner's network. Tickets can authorize the bearer to travel a set itinerary at a specific time, a set itinerary at any time, a set itinerary at multiple times, or an arbitrary itinerary at specific times. The last two categories are often called passes: the former is often sold as a discounted block of trips for commuters; the latter is often sold to vacationers, such as European Eurail passes.
In rail transport, an open-access operator is an operator that takes full commercial risk, running on infrastructure owned by a third party and buying paths on a chosen route and, in countries where rail services run under franchises, are not subject to franchising.
SNCF Connect, formerly OUI.sncf until January 25, 2022, is a subsidiary of SNCF selling passes and point-to-point tickets for rail travel around Europe. It has commercial links to major European rail operators including SNCF, Eurostar, Deutsche Bahn, and Thalys, and is made up of four independent companies in distinct geographical areas. As at 2003, It was the largest French electronic commerce website in volume. One quarter of French SNCF tickets are sold by this website.
France has a large network of high-speed rail lines. As of June 2021, the French high-speed rail network comprises 2,800 km (1,740 mi) of tracks, making it one of the largest in Europe and the world. As of early 2023, new lines are being constructed or planned. The first French high-speed railway, the LGV Sud-Est, linking the suburbs of Paris and Lyon, opened in 1981 and was at that time the only high-speed rail line in Europe.
Eurostar Group is a holding company founded by SNCF Voyageurs, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, NMBS/SNCB, and Federated Hermes Infrastructure in 2022. It aims at merging the operations of Thalys and Eurostar high-speed rail services between France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany.
The British Rail Class 373, known in France as the TGV TMST and branded by Eurostar as the Eurostar e300, is a French designed and Anglo-French built electric multiple unit train that was used for Eurostar international high-speed rail services from the United Kingdom to France and Belgium through the Channel Tunnel. Part of the TGV family, it was built with a smaller cross-section to fit the smaller loading gauge in Britain, was originally capable of operating on the UK third rail network, and has extensive fireproofing in case of fire in the tunnel. It is both the second longest—387 metres —and second fastest train in regular UK passenger service, operating at speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph).
The France Rail Pass was a railway ticket available until December 2018 for non-European residents provided by the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF), or French railway. The France Rail Pass provided unlimited travel for non-European residents on the national rail network of France. The pass provided unlimited three to nine days of unlimited rail travel within one month. The France Rail Pass is a SNCF Voyages et Développement product for the SNCF company.
Raileurope.co.uk is an online booking service for train travel in the United Kingdom and Europe. It sells tickets through its website and via its smartphone app which is available on iOS and Android platforms.
Trainline Europe is the European arm of Trainline, Europe's leading train and coach app. Through either its web interface or mobile apps, customers can purchase tickets for a variety of European rail operators. It also has loyalty cards or vouchers and with e-ticket support. In 2016, Captain Train was acquired by Trainline.
Izy was a low-cost train service between Brussels and Paris. Services started on 3 April 2016, and ended on 10 July 2022.
SNCF Voyageurs is a state-owned enterprise founded on 1 January 2020, an independent subsidiary of the French National Railway Company (SNCF), in charge of operating passenger trains.
The Agreement on Journey Continuation (AJC) is a commercial agreement between 17 major European rail operators, to allow international train passengers on the next possible train without additional costs, in case of a missed train connection.
