Ticketing The long railroad ahead
Recent EU legislation requires rail companies to make their schedules and fares available in a standardised format. A new white paper could see policy go further to make seamless international booking easier for customers, says Thomas Drexler
T
he European Commission’s white paper, Transport 2050: Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area, identifies some ambitions for the European rail industry, not
least that ‘by 2050, the majority of medium- distance passenger transport, about 300km and beyond, should go by rail’. The EC white paper sees rail travel as a key means by which to achieve its goal of reducing carbon emissions from transport by 60 per cent over the next 40 years. This undoubtedly presents a significant
opportunity for European rail companies to become the central hub of the traveller’s itinerary. Nonetheless, to seize this advantage, rail companies must address a multitude of organisational, technological and personnel issues if they are to adapt to the new operating environment in Europe. If rail companies embrace the initiative now, they can capitalise on the pole position the white paper grants them. At the most basic level, rail companies
should explore ways they can change the way they think about how they operate, primarily by adjusting their focus from being transporter-centric to traveller-centric. Rail companies will be able to bring the railway station into the modern age, simply by matching the expectations and experiences travellers have at airports. This is not as straightforward as simply building new stations, trains or even routes: it’s important to deliver the ‘total trip experience’. This will involve giving the traveller access to full fares and timetables for both air and rail at
‘If rail companies embrace the initiative now, they can capitalise on the pole position the white paper grants them’
the shopping and booking stage, and making through-ticket sales and interoperability with different railways and airlines a painless booking and travel process. Rail companies have a wonderful opportunity to evolve their offering to include not only a seat on a train, but the whole travel experience from beginning to end – including the shopping and booking process as the beginning. The recent introduction of TAP TSI
regulation is the first step on the long road for rail companies seeking to fulfil the EC’s vision, and will go some way to enabling this seamless experience. TAP TSI mandates, among other things, rail companies to make their schedules and fares available in a standardised format, so that the long-awaited open access can become the norm within the European rail industry. With these schedules and fares made public, third parties such as Amadeus will be able to integrate this information with that of other modes, so that it will be possible for the traveller to search for a multi-modal journey on one system and, eventually, to book a through-ticket using multiple operators. Incorporating rail schedules and fares in a single, open system will lead to an increase in
the visibility of rail as an alternative to air or road travel. The main beneficiary of TAP TSI will be the traveller, who will be able to effectively compare their travel options, benefit from accurate rail information and plan their itineraries. It is imperative that rail companies assess
their current IT systems and identify the steps they need to take over the next 12 months to ensure that they are open access-ready. Larger, long-established rail companies with complex legacy IT systems will need to make the necessary changes step-by-step, and the scale of the undertaking will depend on their current IT set-up. For example, many rail companies will have a single, comprehensive system that handles several kinds of network – commuter, long-distance, high-speed – whereas others may have individual systems for each network, which will need to be integrated. What is certain is that the EC White
Paper and TAP TSI regulation herald a new age for the European rail industry. The rail companies that recognise this change in environment, encompass international aims into their domestic focus and make the necessary organisational and technological changes, will be those that become the new pathfinders in the Single European Transport Area.
THOMAS DREXLER is the director of rail at Amadeus IT Group SA.
An SBB Regio-Dosto double decker train, manufactured by Stadler, used by the Swiss national operator on its intercity and regional routes. The Regio- Dosto is also used on Germany’s, Luxemburg’s and Austria’s railways
DECEMBER 2011 PAGE 25
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