News

EPF representatives from the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany recently met senior managers of Eurostar and Thalys in Brussels. These two operators are in the process of merging and are sometimes currently referred to as “New Eurostar”. For more than a decade, AERA has been an associate member of the European Passengers’ Federation (EPF) which brings together public transport users’ organisations and related bodies in 20 different European...Continue Reading

The Association of European Rail Agents’ Annual General Meeting was convened this year in the enchanting, historic city of Ghent, Belgium—an occasion made possible by the extraordinary generosity and seamless cooperation of Eurostar, SNCB Belgian Railways, Visit Gent, Visit Flanders and Gent Watertoerist—whose collective professionalism, attention to detail and warm, welcoming hospitality played a role in ensuring the event’s success. We would like to extend our gratitude for their kindness...Continue Reading

 Just as with road and air travel, whilst the vast majority of journeys go smoothly, occasionally not everything goes according to plan. AERA exists to promote travel by rail, but it also has a duty to hold the train operators to account when things go wrong. Our passenger (a very experienced international rail traveller) reports on a journey in late January, from France to Spain, thence through France again, finishing in...Continue Reading

For 30 years Eurostar has been the fast rail services from England to France, using the Channel Tunnel. But there  are still alternatives, one of which is the Newhaven – Dieppe ferry run by DFDS. Indeed this was traditionally  the cheapest cross-Channel route from London to Paris. Encouraged by news  of a new shuttle bus  between quayside and station in Dieppe, six of us decided to try it on a...Continue Reading