Liberalising the distribution of rail tickets across Europe will help to unlock the potential of train travel for the managed corporate sector, according to Champa Magesh, president of Trainline Partner Solutions.
Magesh told BTN Europe that they welcomed the liberalisation of train services across Europe as a way of introducing more competition on rail routes, but she added that distribution also needed to be liberalised for ticket sales through B2B channels.
She explained that licensing conditions for many train operators, particularly in continental Europe, for sales through third parties meant that travel management companies (TMCs) had to acquire licences from every individual train company.
“We have the technology where we can switch on all of the content, but there are the licensing conditions that the train operators have in place,” said Magesh.
“This is not really the case in the UK, which makes things faster. But it is the situation in Europe where legally the TMC will need to go to every operator to get licensed.
“Train services are being liberalised - the next step in transformative growth to make rail a real choice is for distribution to be liberalised. We are asking governments and regulators for this.”
Magesh called for the creation of a “level playing field” between direct B2C and indirect B2B bookings, which could help drive more rail bookings through managed corporate travel platforms.
She said there was growing demand from both corporates and business travellers themselves for taking trains, where possible, and they expected these rail options to be increasingly available for them to choose within booking tools.
“High-speed rail is better from the environmental point of view – both domestic and cross-border rail is a greener way to travel,” added Magesh.
Trainline’s B2B division has been busy in recent months launching its Platform One booking portal, as well as completing deals with leading TMCs such as CWT, Agiito and CTM. It is also working closely with the UK’s Business Travel Association (BTA) to improve the rail sector for business travellers.
Magesh said that her aim was to “close the gap” between the services it can offer through its B2C and B2B channels.
“What we do for rail is what the GDS does for air – although the GDS is obviously much more mature,” she added. “What we do as a platform is to stitch together the cross-border journeys.
“We are starting to work with more TMCs and starting to bring content and functionality to customers. It’s an opportunity for TMCs because a lot of travellers are already booking through consumer channels.”
Magesh said it was now “incredibly feasible” to travel between major European cities by train, including high-volume domestic routes such as Madrid-Barcelona in Spain, as well as cross-border trips; for example, travelling from Paris to Vienna or Milan.
She also cited the new EuroNight sleeper train from Swedish operator SJ, which will help to enable travel from London to Stockholm in 24 hours.
“The wellness and environmental agenda mean that there’s a massive tailwind and increasing demand for rail as a choice,” she added.
Corporate demand for rail travel is only likely to increase with many major organisations in Europe having their own net-zero commitments to achieve by 2030.
“That seems to be a pretty big milestone – we see demand for business travellers to have an alternative to air or driving being made available,” said Magesh. “It’s not good enough to offset, you’ve got to reduce emissions.
“Some companies are willing to spend more on travel if it’s a greener way to travel. This is creating demand for rail – lots of companies are waking up to the fact that rail is a better way to travel.”
Trainline also works directly with many European train companies on their own retail channels, including a recent deal with Italian high-speed rail operator Italo.