➔
Rail travel as an area of ongoing disappointment
with the collective rail industry including the DfT. “Airlines have been using central- ised electronic ticketing since 2006, which has made it so much easier to embrace smartphone ticketing. Sadly, the current DfT ticketing review doesn’t look likely to deliver any substantial change.” Berry believes that the solution lies in smartphone technology. “Now is the time for mobile, with an ever increasing volume of travel transactions made online. There needs to be a single, centralised platform, with ATOC and the DfT playing their part in making this happen. A system each train operating company incorporates as part of their franchise commitment. “The rail industry is looking for a smartcard solution. However, the rise of mobile technologies makes continued use of cards less attractive,” Berry concludes. By contrast, TheTrainline is investing in mobile and barcoded ticketing and wants a more unified approach among TOCs, such as standards for barcodes and a single method of reading and storing data. “Corporates want mobile but we see barcode ticketing as the next big story,” says Claire Morrissey.” Capita’s Raj Sachdave highlights additional barriers to the development of smart technology in the railways. “While smart ticketing could bring down the cost of rail by reducing the fulfilment costs passed onto corporates, there are revenue, union and franchise implications. Why should a TOC invest if it only has a few years left on its franchise? TOD is also a revenue stream for both TOCs and TIS providers. The question has to be asked whether the industry is deliberately hindering this development because they can’t make money out of it.”
First class fluctuation The inconsistency in product on business routes is also an ongoing issue, as Chris Reynolds of 3SixtyGlobal explains. “First class travel on a one-hour journey on Virgin
tr“ The variations in premium train
avel are very much infl uenced by the operators' networks, and the product is variously referred to as fi rst class, business class, business zones or even premium economy
”
Trains to Coventry is very different to a similar journey to Southampton on South West Trains. One operator offers free food and drink, 2-1 seating and wifi; the other offers no free food or drink, 2-2 seating and no wifi,” he says. “The challenge to the traveller is to understand how to get the right information without having to spend hours researching the options,” he adds. The variations in premium train
travel are very much influenced by the operators' networks –
Pictured: Above: Fast Ticket collection; Far left: Southeastern; Left: First ScotRail
40 THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
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