The long-planned merger of two major European rail operators, Eurostar and Thalys, is set for October, but it is not yet clear what difference the rail-riding public will see other than a change of logos on trains now labeled Thalys.
Both companies have long been under majority ownership of the French rail operator SNCF, and the European Commission has given final approval to their combination under the Eurostar name.
Although the Thalys name and website will disappear in October and all reservations will be handled by Eurostar, existing reservations will not be affected. The two companies’ loyalty programs will also merge.
The two companies have both operated TGV-style trains that serve Paris, Lille, Brussels and Amsterdam with a few additional stops. The difference between the two is that Eurostar also operates through the Channel Tunnel to London, while Thalys also operates into several cities in western Germany. However, it is not clear that the merger will result in any major shift, such as trains between London and Cologne without changing trains.
SNCF holds 55.75% of the shares in the combined company, while Belgian rail operator SNCB owns 18.5%. Quebec’s public/private state pension fund owns 19.1% which it bought from the British government when it backed out of its share of the Eurostar operation.
