History
Loco2 was founded in 2006 by Kate Andrews during her final year as an undergraduate at Sussex University. The goal initially was to launch a low-carbon travel company, specialising in grounded travel. As the company’s focus moved to European rail specifically, she was joined by her brother Jamie Andrews and Technical Director Jon Leighton, a leading contributor to Ruby on Rails.
From 2011 onwards, Loco2 began to integrate with the booking systems of Europe’s major rail operators (and, since 2018, buses too).
The company integrated with the following booking systems in Europe:
In 2013, the company partnered with The Guardian to launch "Guardian Trains," a Guardian-branded version of Loco2's train ticket booking application.[15][16]
In 2014 Loco2 added Vimal Khosla, previously a board member of lastminute.com, to its board.
In 2016, the company underwent a full redesign, updating their logo, colourway and user platform.[17] It also released its first smartphone apps, with an iOS version launched in April[18] and an Android version available from July.[19] For its apps, Loco2 launched an icon-only version of the company logo, suitable for iOS devices.[20]
In 2017, Loco2 was acquired by e-Voyageurs Groupe, the parent company of OUI.sncf, a subsidiary of SNCF.[21]
In December 2018, the founders Jamie Andrews and Kate Andrews announced their departure from the organisation, describing the decision to leave as bittersweet.[22]
In November 2019, Loco2’s website and apps were rebranded as Rail Europe. Rail Europe has been part of OUI.sncf group since 2013 selling rail products across 30 countries and 25,000 destinations. By joining forces with Loco2, both now form the newly expanded international arm of e-voyageurs SNCF.
