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03:05Virgin Trains, Richard Branson's company, was given approval last year from the UK's rail regulator to begin planning services between the UK and mainland Europe.
03:18This is a line that Eurostar has had a monopoly over for a long time. Is this something that worries you? Is this bad news for Eurostar?
03:26No, it doesn't worry us. I mean the market is open to competition for the past 15 years so any railway operator can compete with Eurostar.
03:37I think the only issue for Eurostar is development, is how we can grow in the future.
03:43And our main concern is to make sure that tomorrow there is enough space in the station, there is enough space on track because competition or no competition, if we want to have more passengers,
03:55we need to have more trains, but also we need all those bottlenecks to be removed.
04:00We are working with Simponcrest station on that right now. We want to expand the station, we want to offer a seamless experience.
04:10Since Brexit all the British passport needs to be stamped so it's more complicated in a way, but we want to make sure that it goes easier in the future and that we can offer the best customer experience that we can.
04:23And you mentioned bottlenecks there, but only about half of the channel tunnel's passenger capacity is actually being used by Eurostar at the moment, I believe. Don't you see that as a waste?
04:34So the thing which is very important to have in mind is you don't go only through the tunnel channel. First, you start from one station, let's say Gare du Nord or Bruxelles Midi, and you go to Simponcrest.
04:46So you need to make sure you have enough space in the station. Then you need to make sure you have enough space in each of those networks.
04:53And some of those networks are used by other operators than Eurostar for domestic purpose, for instance. So it's not just about Eurotunnel, but clearly our intention is to grow, to run more trains.
05:05And that's the reason why we are purchasing new trains, up to 50 new trains, which means that we would grow by 30% the number of trains that we are operating today.
05:15And supporters of the approval that was given to Virgin say that this competition could bring prices down for consumers and improve the service. What do you think of that?
05:28I mean, all focus at Eurostar offers the best customer experience to our clients. Regarding price, the first thing which is good to know is that over the seven past years, Eurostar, despite growing demand, despite inflation,
05:44has not increased the leading fare. So it's still €44 on Paris London, €29 on Paris Brussels.
05:53The issue that we have is that we don't have enough capacity. Those low fares, they are sold out quite quickly.
06:00But if you are booking at the last minute, then it becomes an issue. So we are launching on a regular basis promotion right now.
06:07It's €25 to travel between Paris and Brussels. Also, we have this new product called Snap.
06:13It enables you to purchase a ticket 50% cheaper than the regular price. You know the date of your travel and we give you 48 hours in advance, the exact departure time.
06:25That is a product that is working really well. But at the end of the day, the thing that will really change everything is to have more capacity.
06:32Because if we have more capacity, we'll be capable to offer more low fares. And that's exactly our intention with those new trains that we are buying, with more than 20% extra capacity in those trains.
06:45And to focus on Eurostar's future projects, what else can we expect from Eurostar in the coming years?
06:51The first thing is probably the new train, because it will be quite a revolution. If you think about it, the first time a double-decker train will run through the tunnel channel in the UK.
07:04It has never happened in the past. The second element is that this train will be fully designed in a very specific way.
07:11So it will be a complete new customer experience that we will provide to the customer. We will continue to invest in lounges. We have new flexible conditions for our tickets.
07:22You can exchange for free up to one hour before departure. So we wanted to make that as easy as taking your car.
07:28So we are working on many things right now. We will continue to work on that. And yeah, that's everything we do.
07:36Lots to look forward to then. I think it's a good place to leave it there. So thank you so much for coming on The Big Question and sharing your insights.
07:43Thank you for your question.
07:45Thanks so much.
07:46Thank you.
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