“Customers want TMCs to offer the same ‘touchy-feely tech’ they experience in the B2C world”
will increase. There will be an expectation of hyper-personalisation as standard, with end-to-end journey solutions booked with a click or through digital assistants.” Redfern Travel business development director, Kate Wimpeney, says business booking systems should mirror the ease of booking on leisure rail systems. A major rail TMC and Evolvi customer, it claims to be the only TMC to offer online amendments across all key products, including rail, via its Trips system. “Offering customers the opportunity to make their own amendments and managing
those in a touch-free environment reduces the call on our team, so we reduce costs and can offer amendments free of charge,” says Wimpeney. “Customers want TMCs to offer the same ‘touchy-feely tech’ they experience in the online B2C world, such as apps that let you know your train is delayed or departing from a different platform, or live updates when Farmer Giles’s prize heifer has strayed on to the track.” While the industry awaits action from
the Rail Delivery Group to sanction the same deals through all channels, the RDG is at least trying to simplify fares in a long-
overdue trial. This could lead to the most radical overhaul of fares in 30 years, includ- ing displaying the best value fares to remove the need for split ticketing. Various websites allow a traveller to
split a journey into two or more segments, achieving sometimes major savings without needing to change trains (though you may have to change seats). But again, this feature is not widely available. A best value end-to-end “through fare”
will also be trialled where customers change trains, paying one price combining the cheapest fare for each leg of the journey.
International outlook
A pan-European booking system integrat- ing rail, other ground transportation and air – creating a true end-to-end journey – is inching towards becoming reality. In the meantime, GDS are improving their access to rail operators in Europe and beyond. Trainline has announced the roll-out of
an online European rail booking system with “the broadest possible European rail content for all our business customers from corporates to TMCs through a single source”. Amadeus is one of the key partners in
www.allwaystravelling.eu, a consortium part-funded by the European Commission that aims to make a single booking system a reality. Amadeus head of sales for rail and ground transportation Mirja Sickel says “proof of concept” has been achieved on this, but rail operators need to agree common standards – as airlines succeeded in doing decades ago. “It is around the corner to becoming a
reality, but ultimately industry players need to come together,” she explains. “But we are achieving good momentum going forward.”
119 BBT May/June 2017 Amadeus claims to have a lead on other
GDSs connecting to rail, and in the UK it works with both Evolvi and Trainline to integrate their content, making possible a combination of rail, air and hotels on a single itinerary. It connects TMCs to all major European operators, including Euro- star, SNCF (France), DB (Germany), RENFE (Spain), Italian companies Trenitalia and NTV, international operators Thalys and Lyria, and other networks across Europe.
ON THE RIGHT TRACK To avoid TMCs having to make cumber- some agreements with individual opera- tors, Amadeus now acts as the merchant, allowing them to book any participating operator. But Sickel accepts there is some way to go in booking airport rail links (Heathrow Express being a welcome excep- tion), and cross-border journeys. “In all major European markets we have
the widest availability of rail, but rail is complex. We need to get operators to com- municate rather than any technological issues,” she says. “Our biggest growth area is
Asia Pacific, with Japan being the most mature rail market and China coming along.” Other GDSs are also targeting rail, with Travel- port reporting an increase in bookings combining rail with air on routes where rail has a high share. It has worked with Eurostar and US operator Amtrak to develop apps enabling TMCs to book in the same way as they do a flight. But frustrations remain, with the ITM concerned about fragmentation. Will Hasler, chairman of its industry affairs group, says: “Overseas rail is a bit chicken- and-egg. We don’t know how much will get booked until it’s visible on systems and all the fares are shown, not just a selection. “If more airport rail was available on
global systems, corporate taxi spend would diminish. Most major airports have good connectivity to cities via fast trains, but we can’t book airport-rail links, such as Frank- furt and Amsterdam, on our systems.”
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
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