European rail: Can a no-frills revolution entice travellers from planes to trains?

The travel debate: Mark Smith, ‘The Man in Seat 61,’ warns of poorer service. Simon Calder, travel correspondent of The Independent, commends innovation even at the expense of comfort

Going places? Low-cost train operator Ouigo has been described as ‘a budget airline on rails’

The train operator, Ouigo – the low-cost/high-speed subsidiary of SNCF (French Railways) – is to compete against the incumbent, Renfe of Spain, on the link between Madrid and Barcelona.

Mark Smith, the former British Rail executive-turned-writer who founded the Seat61.com international rail site, told his Twitter followers about the new rail venture in Spain.

He wrote: “Ouigo will branch out into Spain next year... I just wish they'd add 1st class, add catering, drop the check-in, ditch the baggage charges and bag restrictions. Enough of that in the air, no need on the rail!”

Simon Calder replied: “You’re arguing for more of the same, when European rail needs more innovation to win passengers from air. Ouigo is an excellent example of stripping out costs as the budget airlines have done, keeping the operation simple and limiting baggage because of the high-density seating.”

Here, they debate the merits of each side.

The argument:

MS: It's the wrong kind of innovation, I think! Applying everything people hate about budget airlines to trains, largely unnecessarily.

Trains don't need a check-in beyond a minute or two, weight doesn't matter as trains don't have to fly, and space shouldn't be so tight that you can't take a reasonably-sized bag.

And Paris to Nice is six hours with no food or drink available on board!

SC: The message about baggage for any journey by air or rail is: less is good environmentally (and, I think, philosophically – people tend to cart round much more than they need).

MS: Some passengers will travel with a briefcase, some with a suitcase. Rail can cope with both choices, with no need for unnecessary restrictions. Passengers handle their own baggage and it can fit between the seats or in the “dead space” at the ends of carriages.

SC: Now, about the catering. So long as you know that you're on a train for six hours with no onboard sales, you plan accordingly – though I imagine on a journey of that length the train operator could usefully turn it into a revenue stream.

MS: Food and drink has always been part of the pleasure of a long train journey, and unless you're Paddington Bear, clingfilm-wrapped marmalade sandwiches don't always cut it on a long trip.

Consider Austria and the Czech Republic, where Regiojet competes with national operators CD and ÖBB. Regiojet has not removed at-seat catering, but made it more innovative and attentive.

Indeed, Regiojet is the only European train on which I've been offered sushi, which went very well with some excellent Czech wine. For me, this will always beat slowly-decomposing marmalade sandwiches. Sorry, Paddington...

And the pleasure of the journey isn't trivial, it's crucial. People typically give me not one but two reasons for choosing train over air, like flip sides of the same coin: of course they want to cut their carbon footprint, but they also say they want to avoid the airport & airline experience. So trying to replicate that experience at ground level is not the way to go!

SC: Fortunately all the “frills” you espouse can still be found, at a price, with Renfe's existing Ave service. What about Ouigo’s ticketing innovations, though – nicked straight from the budget airlines' playbook, online only, carry your ticket on your smartphone? Much easier and saves a fortune in costs.

Would you lobby for the opportunity to line up and buy a paper ticket?

In the end, the market will decide. But I have observed since the start of the low-cost revolution in the skies, British Airways has become more like easyJet than vice-versa. I suggest that Ouigo will prove to be on the right side of history.

MS: Ouigo is a strange case, in France it is competing with its own parent company, SNCF. Or rather, one suspects, trying its very best not to compete, deliberately imposing unattractive airline-style fees, baggage limits and check-ins to avoid pinching passengers from its parent company's regular trains.

It has also wrought havoc with connections from the UK by Eurostar: the “Ouigisation” of France’s TGVs means that two of the three Lille-Marseille high-speed trains that used to connect with trains from London can no longer (for several practical reasons) be used for London-Provence through journeys.

SC: I agree that anything reducing connectivity and making long trans-European journeys more difficult is an own-goal for the rail industry. It’s already tough enough to book, say, a UK-Spain or Italy trip.

British Airways’ low-cost sibling, the Spanish budget airline Vueling, can normally be booked as part of a through journey, and that should be feasible for the train operators.

But having witnessed the immense benefits of competition in aviation, if pressed I would accept a loss of connectivity in exchange for better value. I look forward to a one-class only, cut-price competitor to Eurostar between Paris and London.

MS: But it doesn’t have to be one-class. Unlike aircraft, where space and weight are so critical, designers and businesses can be more creative with trains. Regiojet has four classes, for example. All are easily bookable, changeable and (if necessary) refundable using an excellent smartphone app which lets passengers choose their exact seat. 

At one extreme Regiojet offers Lo-Cost for the “Ouigo” end of the market with no frills and very low fares – but without imposing any unnecessary check-in, baggage restrictions or extra fees. At the other end Regiojet offers Business class with space to work, complimentary sparkling wine, bottled water and fresh Illy coffee.

True competition has also emerged in Italy, where Italo competes with state-owned Trenitalia's high-speed trains. Again, the new entrant has tried to be more attractive than the incumbent, not less.

This is the right sort of innovation: building on rail's strengths, increasing choice rather than reducing it.