Rail travel THE INDUSTRY IN NUMBERS 11m 385m The number of
passengers British trains carried in Q4 2012
3%
The predicted rise in passenger numbers per
annum over the next 20 years
The record number of first class rail journeys taken in 2012
£37.5m The size of the rail
upgrade programme from Network Rail
the number of years rail passengers will have to suffer above RPI fare increases
6
➔to develop the technology to allow
corporates to compare air and rail departure times and prices on the same screen have not yet proved successful.” Online booking and ticketing system
TheTrainline.com works closely with its corporate customers to ensure that its product meets the needs of procurement and business travellers alike, as head of corporate account management, Claire Morrissey, explains. “We’re doing a lot of strategic work on behavioural and process change. Average compliance levels, transaction values, average sector value and average ticket value have all fallen over the last 12 months across all of our corporate customers.”
Pictured: East Midlands Trains
Ticket to ride There’s no doubt that significant progress is being made in this area, with both
TheTrainline.com and Evolvi reporting substantial
growth in the volume of bookings being placed through their systems by corporates booking direct and, in Evolvi’s case, via travel management companies. Ticket-on-departure (TOD) fulfilment
currently accounts for 70-80 per cent of all rail journeys, but the future is very much seen as lying with mobile booking apps and plain paper ticketing – the ability to print a rail ticket remotely without the need for a special printer. For Evolvi managing director, Ken Cameron, it’s all about improving access to rail. “In the old days, the only way most people could buy a ticket was to go to the station. Now there’s a wide choice of booking channels. However, getting traction and momentum isn’t easy, as some market entrants have found.” While Evolvi dominates the TMC market,
TheTrainline.com is the market leader among corporates booking direct, and also successfully services the leisure market. However, others have struggled
➔ 32 THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
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