Eurostar Group, which brings together Thalys and Eurostar, revealed the new brand that will allow the company to grow as a single entity.
The ambition is to transport 30 million passengers per year by 2030 and thus become the benchmark for sustainable travel in Europe.
By the end of 2023, the design of the new brand under the Eurostar name will be available on all customer touch points, including on the 51 trains. The name ‘Eurostar’ was chosen because of the brand’s strong consumer awareness, both in Europe and globally which remains a growing market for high-speed rail services.
Eurostar group has chosen, as its symbol and new logo, an emblematic star, inspired by the Etoile du Nord, the original train service linking Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam and which pays homage to the first Eurostar logo.
An animated spark graphic acts as a compass and symbolizes the brand’s purpose: to create new opportunities, connecting people, places, companies and cultures across borders.
Under a single brand, Eurostar Group intends to breathe new life into high-speed rail transport in Europe. And this, while continuing to offer an attractive alternative to road and air transport and accelerating modal shift, at a time when passengers want ever greener travel options. The carbon footprint of a passenger on a flight between London and Amsterdam, for example, is equivalent to seven Eurostar trips*. As the largest high-speed rail network in Europe – crossing five countries and connecting 245 million people – there is therefore immense potential to encourage the use of more sustainable modes of transport.
With this unique brand, Eurostar Group passengers will have Europe within reach of the train. From October 2023, they will benefit from a single loyalty programme, covering all destinations on the current Eurostar and Thalys networks, as well as a single website and reservation system. For continental travellers, this will make it easier to book direct and connecting journeys to London. For UK passengers, this will provide easy and seamless connections between London and German destinations, including Cologne.
This alliance being legally established on May 1, 2022, this January 24 marks a new important step in the rapprochement of the two companies.
The CEO of Eurostar Group, Gwendoline Cazenave, is delighted to participate in the sustainable development of the company: ” We are proud to unveil today our new brand, which will increase our visibility, contribute to making us the cornerstone of the high-speed rail transport in Europe and drive our ambition to double passenger numbers over the next decade.Our customers will be able to enjoy the same quality of service they know and love on our unified network. business and leisure centers in five European countries. As Eurostar Group, we are joining forces to write the next chapter in the history of rail transport and truly promote the modal shift of road andair to the rail.”
Christophe Fanichet, Chairman and CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, said: ” We are proud to be involved with Eurostar Group in the first international high-speed rail company. This new Eurostar brand, with its unified network, is at the heart of our ambition to enable the development of the train and to double its modal share by 2030. We have all the assets to succeed in this magnificent challenge! ”
Alain Krakovitch, Director of TGV-Intercités and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Eurostar Group, adds: “ We have set ourselves a bold ambition: to increase the number of passengers from 19 million in 2019 to 30 million in 2030. And to accelerate the transition from air and road transport to high-speed rail on the combined Eurostar and Thalys network.We knew that the challenge of climate change and the growing demand for eco-responsible and sustainable travel in Europe represented a great opportunity for both companies in terms of long-term development. ”
Sophie Dutordoir, CEO of SNCB, explains: ” The launch of the new brand not only demonstrates a firm determination to enter a new era of high-speed rail, beneficial both for existing customers but also for new ones, and also reinforces the central role of Brussels, home of the Eurostar Group, as a hub for rail connectivity and sustainable travel in Europe.This exciting new phase of rail travel is timely, as it is an indispensable part of achieving of Europe’s sustainability goals. “
Emmanuel Jaclot, Executive Vice-President and Head of Infrastructure at CDPQ (Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec), adds: ” The unified brand and the commitment to transport 30 million passengers per year by 2030 mark a new inspiring chapter for Eurostar Group, and more broadly, for sustainable mobility in Europe. At a time when every action counts, CDPQ is proud to accelerate the decarbonization of transport in Europe with the companies in its portfolio, like Eurostar, which we support since 2015. ”
The new brand identity was imagined by DesignStudio based on the heritage of Eurostar and Thalys. This identity has been adapted to the digital age and designed to help the company in its development. It will be deployed from October 2023 in a palette of ten colors, bringing warmer shades, representative of the Thalys brand.
