SNCF and SNCB have received approval from the European Commission (EC) to proceed with plans to create a stand-alone management team to operate cross-border Thalys services.
The national rail operators of France and the Netherlands approved plans to restructure Thalys, which operates high-speed rail services between Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne, in 2013 after Deutsche Bahn (DB) sold its minority stake in the jointly-operated rail service.
The stand-alone joint venture will be established in 2015 following this announcement from the EC, which felt the move was likely to only have a ‘limited’ impact on competition in the sector.
In the first half of 2014, Thalys recorded a 3.4 per cent rise in passenger numbers.
