Poll Results: Is the volcanic ash cloud disruption an opportunity for railways to capture new travellers?
A staggering 100% of voters believed that the volcanic ash crisis is an opportunity for railways to capture new business.
Hundreds of thousands of stranded travelers looked for alternative ways to reach their destination. Ferry services were sold out and car rental companies had to turn away potential customers. However, railway companies must have been one of the biggest winners coming out of the volcanic ash crisis.
Eurostar carried over 50,000 extra passengers across the Channel by putting on more than 33 additional services. Train operators in France and Germany were also cashing in with Deutsche Bahn mobilizing all their trains and SNCF making nearly 40 000 extra seats available. Not only the train operators, but rail enthusiast ‘The Man in Seat 61’ had over a million hits on his website last month[*] with people seeking advice on getting from A to B by rail.
Passengers who would not have necessarily travelled by train, perhaps now have become more open-minded about ‘greener’ modes of transport. Although the majority of airspace is now open and flight schedules are resuming to normal, railways had the chance for new travelers to ‘sample’ their service with many of them having the intention of considering rail over air in the future. Statistics can back this up, as Eurostar carried out a survey which found that 84% of Brits would now choose high speed rail over the airplane for future travel arrangements. Air passengers were introduced to the city-centre to city-centre trip experience which is something they will now seriously consider.
The railways could also see a prolonged increase in passengers over the coming months as airlines push their prices up in order to reduce the financial impact of the volcanic ash crisis. This gives the railways a further possibility of turning the crisis into a sustainable opportunity.
[*] Travelmole: http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1142006.php?mpnlog=1
