56 October 2014 | Railway Gazette International

TICKETING Distribution

700MORE THAN 700

RAILWAY STATIONS AROUND THE

WORLD NOW HAVE IATA CODES

For DB, the updated RailMaster platform means that the benefits of mobile e-ticketing can be extended further into the market, offering par-ticular benefits to business travellers, who may appreciate the convenience of receiving a ticket direct to their smartphone, and to visitors making reservations on DB trains from out-side Germany.

Sales platformsTravelport is parent to the long-

established Apollo, Galileo and Worldspan global distribution sys-tems. Through its proprietary Travel Commerce Platform, the company has access to approximately 67 000 agents in more than 170 countries.

DAVID CLASSEYDirector, Programme Delivery Travelport

Travel agents and corporate travel managers using the RailMaster for DB distri-bution platform can now

deliver tickets to their customers’ smartphones under a joint initiative which went live at the end of August.

RailMaster for DB is managed by B2B travel commerce special-ist Travelport as part of its family of global distribution systems which link rail operators, airlines, car rental firms and other suppliers to online and offline buyers, including travel agents and corporate travel managers.

Realising rail’s potential in an evolving marketDeutsche Bahn and Travelport have launched a mobile ticketing initiative as the co-operative landscape between rail operators, airlines and travel distribution specialists continues to evolve.

Partnership with a distribution specialist can help operators gain access to markets out of reach to traditional retail methods.Ph

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Like a number of other distribution specialists, it sees rail as a significant growth sector, although the company has had direct access to the ticketing systems of European train operators since 2000.

RailMaster for DB offers access to the railway’s fares, timetables and res-ervation data, and permits bookings on domestic and international trains. It can also make reservations for group travel and rail-inclusive tours. Travel-port’s ‘Booking File’ function is de-signed to make the booking process for the travel agent as straightforward as possible, with no need for cryptic data entry codes which can complicate staff training.

As well as DB, the RailMaster plat-form also provides specialist rail travel agents with access to bookings for sev-eral other European operatots, includ-ing SNCF.

Since 2011, Travelport has offered a more bespoke option which allows an API-based software interface be-tween the agent and the train operator, known as the Rail Content Hub. This offers an even simpler sales process for the agent, providing ‘fastest journey’ or ‘specific classes’ options for the re-quested journey. It also provides a full range of commercial options offered by the operator, covering discounted fares, local transport add-ons or on-board services. DB, Amtrak and NTV are among the operators providing data to Rail Content Hub, as is British online ticket retailer The Trainline.

Rail-air evolutionUse of airline methodology to drive

distribution of rail tickets is not new; cross-channel operator Eurostar allo-cated IATA codes to its stations several years ago, and the Travelport platform incorporates the service into its airline PNR ticketing and reporting work-flow. Interactive seat maps are avail-able, meaning any Travelport agency anywhere in the world can simply ‘point and click’ to make a ‘London Ebbsfleet’ (XQE) – Brussels Midi (ZYR) book-ing, for example.

But there are many routes between city pairs where rail has overtaken air in modal share terms, and co-operation between modes is replacing competi-tion. As a result, more than 700 railway stations now have IATA codes, almost a tenth of the total.

There is a natural symmetry here as train operators seek greater interna-tional distribution of their products. The rise of the rail-air ‘codeshare’ is a natural

Railway Gazette International | October 2014 57

‘Co-operation between modes is replacing competition’‘‘

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gateway to ensure international travel-lers start their visit to a given country on a train under a unified booking bundled in with their flight.

A local train operator may make agreements with one or more airlines to carry passengers to/from an airport they both serve based on certain condi-tions, such as no stopover. This approach should ideally include agreements cov-ering guaranteed minimum connection time, a special add-on rail fare, relevant discounts, issuance on one ticket, guar-antee of delivery and protection from missed connections.

Such through ticketing concepts are already proving popular in Germany, France, the Benelux region and else-where, and they are supported by more than 70 Travelport-connected airlines. But the European Commission’s TEN-T programme should encourage in-vestment in airport stations to encour-age greater intermodality. This in turn presents rail operators with significant commercial opportunities, not least be-cause connecting airline passengers tend to be higher yield. There may also be the potential for train operators to gradually replace a partner airline if the latter de-cides to exit unprofitable short-haul or domestic routes; there has already been some evidence of this shift in Spain, where Iberia has sought to scale back flights competing with Renfe’s high speed services (RG 12.12 p52).

But to exploit this potential, rail operators will need to keep in mind

customer-facing factors which can al-ready be apparent in existing air-rail links. These include the need to reas-sure passengers that a train will get them to and from the airport on time, the airline check-in or reception will be located near the airport station, and the rail check-in or ticket collection process will be quick and self-service points multilingual. Passengers also increasingly expect guarantees about journey completion in the event of ei-ther rail or air disruption, and bilateral recognition of loyalty schemes, lounge access or wi-fi provision.

In the future, more advanced com-mercial models could evolve, for ex-ample by offering the passenger an air journey in one direction and rail in the other, or by bundling in regional rail travel with an ‘out and back’ air booking. More multi-operator rail journeys could also be offered by travel agents if there were greater homogeneity between air and rail booking processes.

To this end, we are engaging with the Community of European Railways & Infrastructure Managers’ efforts to develop a ‘full service model’ (RG 1.14 p31) which seeks to harmonise data ex-change standards for booking, reserva-tion and fulfilment processes. Rail has a stronger role to play in a multimodal world where travellers increasingly ap-preciate its benefits over other options, but enhanced journey planning and ticket distribution features are integral to fulfilling its potential. n

Travelport sees growing commercial potential for air-rail intermodality. Reflecting this trend, DB has reliveried an aircraft in the style of an ICE trainset.

Distribution TICKETING