Berlin

In contrast to German regional rail transport, longdistance railway operators are not provided with public subsidies. In 2002, Veolia Transdev was the first private company to run long distance rail services under the brand name InterConnex. This is a full-risk venture. A situation that also offers opportunities, such as free structuring of fares and sales channels.

Operate cost-effective long distance traffic on a market asserting itself in the face of a dominant state-owned player. Increase InterConnex's market share by:

• boosting passenger numbers, especially through attracting people who would normally drive,
• achieving high customer satisfaction rates,
• developing an innovative and ambitious commercial strategy.

• High levels of comfort and friendly spaces; rail vehicles have been re-designed with new passenger features, such as multifunctional areas for up to 50 bicycles, children's strollers, wheelchairs, etc.
• Short travel times, simplified fares and timetables are defined around carefully studied customer needs.

• Online ticket purchase is made easy with a state-of-the-art passenger website.
• Specific marketing campaigns have delivered special benefits to targeted customer segments, such as campaigns to "over 55's" and students.

A customer care center able to respond by phone and email, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week:

• high quality operational processes,
• ticket sales,
• customer feedback and complaints management.

After eight years of operations, passengers have an extremely positive image of the Interconnex network:

• in a 2009 independent customer satisfaction survey, 98% of passengers would recommend the service - and 63% expressed themselves "very satisfied",
• customer-facing staff have followed the unique and proprietary Veolia Transdev customer care training program "Going for Green" to ensure the best possible passenger experience.