Rail is upping its game as a vital part of corporate travel programmes, as buyers demand ever more sophisticated booking and ticketing solutions. Dave Richardson reports
IF YOUR BUSINESS has a regular requirement for rail travel and you are not using an online system to book in advance, you are losing out. Walk-up fares (referred to by National Rail as Anytime) increased by an average of 6 per cent in January and will increase by a similar amount in January 2013, as the government shifts more of the cost of running the railways from the taxpayer to the traveller.
High-profile TV advertising by Thetrainline.com, and also by new entrant Redspottedhanky, has pushed the “book ahead” message through to consumers, too. Many people now understand that big savings are possible by advance booking, but not on every train and every route. High capacity, high
frequency services to and from London offer the best opportunities to make savings, especially if booked well before the deadline of 6pm on the day before travel. With most businesses now understanding the need for advance booking, the major online retailers Evolvi, working exclusively through travel management companies (TMCs), and Thetrainline.com are concentrating on enhancements to management information (MI) and policy compliance, and new forms of ticketing. They have yet to feel the effects of any new competitors, but Redspottedhanky has developed a system for business and
MOBILE TICKETING – THE NEXT BIG THING? 62
SMARTPHONES HAVE BECOME so prevalent over the last year or two that there is growing demand for mobiles to be used to deliver rail tickets (as a barcode) and other information. But as with other types of non-conventional ticketing, systems suppliers are limited by what the rail industry can support. As with plain paper-ticketing, the major problem is fraud – which is why
only advance tickets, linked to a seat reservation, can be sent to a mobile device or printed on plain paper. There is nothing to stop someone printing out a full-fare Anytime ticket again and again until train operators develop the technology to read and then cancel these tickets electronically. Smart-card ticketing – similar to the Oyster card in London but applicable
to pre-booked tickets nationwide – is another issue. Although the card can read when a journey is completed and is not susceptible to fraud, train operators don’t yet have the technology at ticket gates or on hand-held devices carried by the train manager to process a smart card. Introducing this technology will be made a condition of new franchises, but, realistically, it is at least several years
Raileasy4business has also entered the market. Click Travel has created its own system, Open Rail, which was demonstrated at this year’s Business Travel Show.
The event was also used to debut
Evolvi-ng (the “ng” is for “new generation”), the most significant re-launch for Evolvi since it started six years ago. New features include pre-trip authorisation, a shopping