NO TICKETS PLEASE Business travel will have a significant role to play in the mobile rail-fare revolution
THE WRITING WAS ON THE WALL WHEN LONDON UNDERGROUND CLOSED its last ticket office in December – call it what you will, but paperless, contactless and mobile ticketing is the way ahead, and not just within the capital. What began with the Oyster Card in London is slowly spreading to the na- tion’s railways. Some, like Southern, have introduced smart cards, but while these are aimed at everyday travellers, it’s the business travel world that is leading the rail ticket revolution towards mobile devices. Just as air passengers now expect mobile
boarding passes, so business travellers are increasingly being offered mobile ticketing
108 BBT MAY/JUNE 2016
when travelling by train. It’s something their travel managers are driving, because tickets bought centrally mean you have much more control over what is being spent and it’s easier to track where your staff are.
The need for change is evident, given
the growing usage of our railways. Booking engine Evolvi Rail Systems estimates that total trade rail bookings amounted to £250 million a decade ago, but that it and main competitor Trainline alone now manage close to £950 million. High-speed services and wifi mean that for domestic trips such as London-Manchester, train, rather than plane, is the preferred choice.
If there is any starting point for the death of the orange ticket, it will surely be the corporate travel world. It’s already underway at Virgin Trains, which earlier this year became the first franchised rail operator to offer mobile ticketing across all ticket types and all journeys. The concept is similar to that used by the
airlines: passengers get a barcoded electronic ticket on their mobile device (known as an ‘m-ticket’) if they purchase through a travel management company (TMC). Meanwhile, Cross Country now offers
‘Advance on the Day’ discounted tickets through TMCs, using Evolvi’s platform, which can be fulfilled as m-tickets.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
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