A few years ago, when the UK Government announced it was to stop civil servants and others in Government from using first class rail travel, the effect on the rail companies was very evident. First class carriages were suddenly far less full, as civil servants have long been seen as the "bread and butter" of railway first class — the travellers rail companies could rely on to bring in a baseline level of revenue.
There was much talk after that happened about whether rail travel would undergo a similar transformation to the airline world. Would rail companies introduce premium economy carriages as their aviation counterparts had done to eke a little more revenue out of cost-conscious business travellers? They didn't.
It was never going to happen quickly if it did. The rail franchises that Britain's rail network is (in)famous for have long contracts that do not encourage innovation like this. It is not unusual to take a train journey in Britain and be sitting in a carriage that is more than 20 years old — some are even older.
Innovation is slow then. However, a service announced this week may interest travel managers.
Virgin Trains, which runs both the East Coast and West Coast lines in the UK, has launched a new service to enable people to buy last-minute upgrades. That, in itself, is not new: upgrades have always been available.
What is different this time is that the company has partnered with a company called Seatfrog to produce an app that allows passengers to bid on upgrades in real-time.
The service is available on the East Coast route between King's Cross and Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh and York as well as intermediate stations.
Whereas other upgrades are often targeted at leisure travellers, the new service seems to have business travellers in its sights. The service operates from Monday to Friday and there are no time blackouts.
Upgrades are available from 2.5 hours until 30 minutes ahead of departure from the originating station but are only available on advance tickets.
Successful bidders, who pay £5 upwards for the upgrade, are sent a barcode on their phones which they show along with their ticket to the train staff. Users have to tap in their credit card details and they are sent a tax receipt on a successful bid.
The company expects to roll out the service on other routes in due course.
RELATED