Air-rail alliance explained

There are four main types of airline-railway business alliance or codeshare agreements: dedicated services, entire network access, Night&Fly, and re-protection agreements. The currently active air-rail alliances are listed in the tables below.

Dedicated services

Dedicated services are less common than Rail&Fly alliances, due to the level of service provided. Often checked through luggage to is provided between the air and rail journeys, dedicated carriages or entire trains are provided to airline passengers, and service is to the same level expected on board an aircraft, including meals and refreshments.

Train Operating Company Airline From Airport To City Marketed As
New Haven, CT
Philadelphia, PA
Stamford, CT
Wilmington, DE
Shanghai-Hangzhou
Shanghai-Wuxi 		China Eastern Air-Rail Service [1]
Stuttgart
Cologne
Siegburg/Bonn / Kassel Wilhelmshöhe / Karlsruhe main station 		AIRail[2]
AIRail[3]
Basel Airtrain [4]
Brussels-Midi
Strasbourg 		Air & Rail [5]
Antwerp-Centraal
Brussels-Midi
Brussels-Midi

Entire network access

More commonly referred to as Rail & Fly due to the popularity of the Deutsche Bahn service, entire network access is the increasingly common form of air-rail alliance. This allows passengers to book a discounted (sometimes free) train ticket in addition to their full-price air ticket. Checked through luggage and dedicated train compartments for airline passengers are not normally available, though sometimes first class train travel is provided. Travel is usually available to the entire rail network.[6]

Train Operating Company Airline From Airport To Marketed As
Lisbon Airport, Porto Airport, Faro AirportAll of Portugal, long-distance trains only[7] Rail&Fly Portugal
Frankfurt Airport
Basel Airport
Berlin Brandenburg Airport
Bremen Airport
Dortmund Airport
Dresden Airport
Düsseldorf Airport
Hamburg Airport
Hannover Airport
Leipzig/Halle Airport
Köln-Bonn Airport
München Airport
Münster-Osnabrück Airport
Nürnberg Airport
Stuttgart Airport		All Deutsche-Bahn-stations (including some in Austria and Switzerland), and select private railway services in Germany Rail&Fly[8]
Air Moldova # Linz, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Bregenz, Graz, Klagenfurt and St. Pölten[9] Air & Rail Austria
Emirates # All ÖBB-trains in Austria except EN Euro Night[10] Rail & Fly in Austria
All of Taiwan - HSR only [11]
All of France - HSR only TGVair
♯ Indicates airlines offer Rail&Fly ticketing on company website

Airline-Rail re-protection agreements

Also known as "Good for Trains", this is an emergency backup service for airline cancellations, providing train tickets in lieu of flights to get passengers to their destination. Such an example was during the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010, where extra trains were provided to support the airlines’ stranded passengers in Europe. These 'good for train' agreements are in place with the following airlines:

Country Train Operating Company Airline
Air Canada[14]
Lufthansa[15]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Air-Rail Service. China Eastern. 28 November 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20120310230120/http://en.flychinaeastern.com/muovc/main/en_HK/edm/content.html. 10 March 2012. dead. dmy-all.
  2. Web site: AIRail Service. Frankfurt Airport. 28 November 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20120103123934/http://www.frankfurt-airport.com/content/frankfurt_airport/en/directions_parking/arriving_by_bus_ortrain/airail_service.html. 3 January 2012. dead.
  3. Web site: ÖBB - Austrian AIRail - Travel directly from Linz and Salzburg . 2018-09-13 . 2018-09-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180914022833/https://www.oebb.at/en/leistungen-und-services/austrian-airail . dead .
  4. Web site: Airtrain. SWISS. 9 September 2012.
  5. Web site: Air-Rail Service. Air France. 28 November 2011.
  6. Web site: 2022-08-18 . Termos e Condições - Betfair Brasil . 2022-10-05.
  7. Web site: Rail&Fly Portugal – Termos e Condições. TAP Portugal. 2014-03-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20140319222058/http://www.flytap.com/mediaRep/editors/Contentimages/PDFs/Planear%20e%20Reservar/Reservas/Rail_Fly_PT_TermosCondicoes/TC_Rail%26Fly_PT.pdf. 2014-03-19. dead.
  8. Web site: Rail & Fly. Frankfurt Airport. 28 November 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111113183230/http://www.frankfurt-airport.com/content/frankfurt_airport/en/directions_parking/arriving_by_bus_ortrain/rail_fly.html. 13 November 2011. dead.
  9. Web site: Air Moldova - Air & Rail Austria. 17 October 2016.
  10. Web site: Emirates - Rail & Fly in Austria. https://web.archive.org/web/20161220052559/http://www.emirates.com/at/english/plan_book/to_and_from_airport/obb.aspx. 2016-12-20. dead. 21 October 2016.
  11. Web site: Air China - HSR. SkyTeam. 28 November 2011.
  12. Web site: TGVair. Air France. 28 November 2011.
  13. Web site: Gulf Air and French National Railway SNCF commence codeshare. AMEINFO. 28 November 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20090620132834/http://www.ameinfo.com/200872.html. 2009-06-20. dead.
  14. Web site: Air Canada/Via Rail reprotection agreement. Air Canada. 28 November 2011.
  15. Web site: Media release: DB prepared for flight restrictions. Deutsche Bahn. 28 November 2011.

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