While there are many good reasons to take the train for business trips around Europe, there are still plenty of reasons not to.
Corporate travel managers looking to incorporate rail into their travel programs have long struggled with content fragmentation and challenges with the functionality of online rail booking services. Cross-border ticketing remains a highly complex and nearly impossible task, and the traveler experience varies widely across different private and state-owned rail operators. You also have to deal with travel time when you're in direct competition with airplanes.
However, with the recent ban on domestic flights in France and Spain, and the introduction of the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) this year, travel managers are increasing their focus on rail travel. Some companies are taking steps to require air travel by rail on some routes as part of a revamp of their internal travel and expense policies, but is that easier said than done?
A recent survey of Buyer members of the Institute of Travel Managers (ITM) found that 43% of companies have a rail-first policy in place, particularly on Eurostar routes from the UK to France, Belgium and the Netherlands. It turned out that
Last month, one of our Buyer members, a financial services firm that runs a global travel program, introduced a rail mandate that states that if you can travel by rail within four hours, you must take that option. Train travel is also “highly recommended” if it takes 4-6 hours.
The global travel manager we spoke to said, BTN Europe Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the Paris-based company's biggest source of CO2 emissions is air travel by its 1,500 regular travelers based in more than 50 offices around the world. In 2023, the company set a “very ambitious” target to reduce carbon intensity per employee by 45% in Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2025 (compared to 2019 standards). comparison).
They say, “If you don't make these changes, you'll never be successful.” “[The new policy] Internally it was a bit of a revolution, but it is not perfect as rail alternatives are not always available,” they explain. “However, we encourage our employees to travel less and stay longer or include overnight stays.” [in order to make a longer rail
alternative more palatable] as long as it is there [HRS] Green Stay Hotel. ”
While certain busy European routes, such as Cologne to Zurich and Paris to London, are strictly rail-only, travel managers said the modal shift must occur “gradually”.
“You can't go from 100 percent to zero.” [air travel]. I also have a business, so it's hard to find a balance. And when pursuing sustainability goals, you shouldn't disrupt your business too much. Otherwise, the company cannot survive. ” they say.
Train travel lasting more than two hours qualifies for business or first class travel, whereas air travel is limited to economy class.
Enforcing such policies is not easy. The travel team has embedded a series of go/no-go questions into its online booking tool to inform employees about sustainable travel options, but they have also embedded a series of go/no-go questions into their online booking tool to inform employees about sustainable travel options, but they are also reluctant to buy air tickets even when rail alternatives are viable routes. The ability to make reservations is still allowed. Company booking tool. However, if such a choice is made, the traveler will receive a “hard” email asking them to justify their decision.
Additional policies to enhance rail benefits, such as allowing first class tickets on all rail travel and eliminating tiered benefits previously reserved for VIPs and frequent travelers Because adjustments have been made, the railroad's obligations are “fair” and applicable. For all travelers across the corporate hierarchy.
go far
Amsterdam-based design and consultancy firm Arcadis has launched its own pop-up messages to 'encourage' travelers to make sustainable choices in line with a new policy stating that journeys of less than 700 kilometers must be taken by rail. has been incorporated into the reservation tool. .
Global travel director Nicky Parsons said: “This is really an awareness campaign,” with rail travel being “encouraged” rather than strictly enforced.
The company aims to reduce overall business travel emissions by 35% (compared to the 2019 baseline) by 2025, and has a specific goal of reducing air emissions by 50% by 2025. We have also set goals. According to the company's 2023 annual report, the company's business travel emissions have already decreased by 30%, and air emissions have decreased by 26% compared to his 2019 baseline. .
To ensure its plans stay on track, Arcadis recently began rolling out quarterly CO2 emissions reports to 25,000 travelers around the world. This also includes tailored suggestions for lower carbon footprint options for future travel, such as alternatives to rail.
For clinical research organization PAREXEL, switching travelers from planes to long-distance trains required establishing travel parameters that were satisfactory for both travelers and business. Ben Park, PAREXEL's executive director of travel and sustainability, said the company favors non-stop rail travel of up to four hours. Additionally, train travel over two hours is eligible for business class or first class reservations, as opposed to being limited to economy class on airplanes.
“By enhancing the seating experience on long-distance rail travel, we have made it a more attractive option for our traveling colleagues,” says Park.
The company also recognizes the productivity benefits of rail travel. “Rail tickets may be more expensive than plane tickets, but the overall benefit to the company is greater,” Park says. “Travelers can reduce stress, enjoy a more comfortable journey, work seamlessly with Wi-Fi, and contribute to the well-being of our planet. It's a triple win for the company.”
PAREXEL's German subsidiary also leverages Deutsche Bahn's loyalty program, which offers benefits such as upgrades and free meals, to encourage compliance. “The success of his airline loyalty program posed a major challenge in championing rail travel,” Park admits.
Rail superflight policy has global implications, but it is not mandatory. The team takes a country-by-country approach, running local campaigns to educate travelers about domestic rail options and encourage them to choose trains over planes while regularly assessing compliance. I am.
Initially, the 2022 policy identified three city pairs within Germany. This number has since expanded to between six and eight city pairs, with adoption rates steadily increasing and the company currently focusing on Spain and Italy to increase rail usage.
Mr Park said that 96% of Parexel's domestic business trips in Germany in 2023 took place by train, with around 40% of domestic trips across Europe now taking place by train, and that number increasing significantly. It is estimated that
Similarly, UK-based engineering and management consultancy Mott MacDonald recently shifted its travel policy focus from the lowest theoretical fares to more carbon-efficient rail options across around 20 domestic routes.
“We haven't completely rewritten the rulebook because it's not applicable.”
[rail-first mandates] It’s built into the system for every route,” explains Group Travel Manager Flo Chick. Since the Modal Shift campaign was introduced last July, carbon emissions on the identified routes have decreased by 50 percent, Chick said. Air travel on these routes is still permitted, but he now requires “active approval” from the budget holder within the OBT workflow.
“People still have some flexibility if they need to,” Chick said, adding that she and her team went to “a significant amount of effort” to get buy-in from senior management. This includes creating comparisons of air and rail costs, travel times and carbon emissions on popular routes. Notably, Chick calculated the total travel time from office to office and took into account the additional cost, time, and carbon footprint of last-mile ground travel.
“We could say, 'Rail is more expensive than air, so this is the extra ticket cost per year, but this is the amount of money we'll save and this is the difference it will make to our carbon footprint.' '…And that was a very persuasive argument,' Chick says. “One of the things that really surprised her about this exercise was that some routes are actually faster to take by rail,” she added.
Chick said the OBT priority feature will be important in further driving traveler behavior change, especially as the company plans to expand its policy reach to include cross-channel services to Brussels, Paris and Amsterdam. He said it would be.
“One of the key drivers of change is the ability to use the OBT algorithm to categorize search results according to carbon emissions.
[rather than by cost]…to what extent do you value carbon over cost? “Once you have the tools to do that, you don't necessarily have to write policy, you just apply the logic of the rules,” she explains. But at this point, Chick says her OBT doesn't offer “that kind of nuance.”
In times of strikes like this, it is very difficult to propel trains from the air when they are a less reliable means of transportation.
According to Kelly Douglas, program director at ITM, the biggest obstacles preventing many corporate travel managers from moving towards a rail-first policy are the lack of content available in online booking tools and the lack of content available in online booking tools. The problem is that it is not possible to write down both airplane and train options when making a reservation.
In fact, in a December 2023 survey, only 18% of ITM Buyer members said they were satisfied with the rail content provided through the booking tool. The challenge, Douglas added, is that “the consumer experience of booking a train is much better than the business travel experience of booking a train.”
Will it hit the buffer?
The ongoing rail strikes across Europe are causing havoc for travel managers trying to implement rail policies. Parexels Park and Mott MacDonald-Chick said the recent spate of rail strikes in Germany and the UK had “undoubtedly” had an impact on travellers' demand for rail, raising concerns about reliability. ing. “In this day and age, it's very difficult to promote rail over airplanes, which are less reliable modes of transportation,” Park said.
In the UK, the Business Travel Association recently published a white paper calling for “urgent” reforms to improve rail passenger services, including greater transparency around service delays and the need to close the “vehicle chasm”. Announced.
In Nordic countries like Sweden, infrastructure difficulties combined with harsh winter conditions are an ongoing challenge. “We're not really worried about the strike,” said Fredrik Hermelin, general manager of the Swedish Business Travel Association. “We're more concerned about whether there's electricity and whether there's ice on the tracks.”
Hermelin said that despite “significant government mandates for Swedish companies to use the railways,” “we cannot guarantee that businessmen will arrive at their destination on time or even if they will arrive at their destination. On the same day that many companies are unable to base their travel policies on rail.
Even on a well-served route, such as the 3.5-hour train journey from Stockholm to Gothenburg, most companies may still consider flying if they really need to get to Gothenburg on time. Hermelin says that it has a high level of sexuality.
However, with state rail operator SJ's recently announced fleet modernization initiative (including EIB financing for 25 new high-speed trains operating in Sweden, Norway and Denmark) and planned rail network maintenance, business travelers The situation is expected to improve. .
It is clear that there is still much work to be done to make rail a smart and easy option for business travel in Europe. Upcoming EU legislation, such as the Multimodal Digital Mobility Services (MDMS) Regulation, has the potential to change the game, but to what extent?
• Part 2 examines MDMS and its potential impact on business travel in Europe.
