By 2019, French consumers may be able to go to the website of the nation’s main railway company and buy travel via a combined ticket of train plus bus, or train plus carpooling, or even train plus bus plus carpooling.
That’s the dream of BlaBlaCar, the world’s largest long-distance ridesharing community, which announced on Monday a surprise offer to acquire Ouibus, French intercity bus operator.
Negotiators are still working on the deal and a sale isn’t finalized, said Ouibus, a subsidiary of state-owned rail operator SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français).
But in a statement that voiced confidence a deal would be reached, Guillaume Pepy, president of SNCF, said, “We are convinced that to offer more trains, we need to offer more than trains.”
SNCF also announced that it is has led a $113 million (€101 million) investment in BlaBlaCar as a new investor. Previous investors also participated in the round.
Read Original Article
