The UK’s major rail companies are set to be included in a new “GDS for rail” being developed by technology giant Amadeus from next year.
Amadeus sees pulling together train content from operators across the world as the “last unsolved problem in travel” and is holding a two-day rail forum for train operators and the travel trade, at its research and development facility in Sophia Antipolis in southern France.
The company is already working on the Total Rail project with European train operators such as Italy’s Trenitalia, SNCF in France, Germany’s Deutsche-Bahn and SJ in Sweden.
Amadeus intends to integrate content from the 24 UK rail companies, which belong to the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), during 2013.
Thomas Drexler, global head of Amadeus Rail, said it was a “long-term project” which aimed to create a “GDS for rail” which would allow TMCs to compare train fares with those of airlines operating on the same routes.
“The question is how to efficiently distribute railways all around the globe,” Drexler told BBT. “It’s a lot of work because there’s no one set of standards for rail, unlike air where you have standards set down by IATA for airline products and fares.”
Amadeus has built up a team of 250 people including 200 developers to work on the project and Drexler said it would be done “step by step”.
“We are already up and running with Trenitalia - you can compare flights between Milan and Rome versus the train both for price and travel time, so you get a proper full comparison,” he said.
“There will be more to come – including all the content from the ATOC companies in the UK which we will be integrating next year. Eurostar is already on the system which is very important for the ATOC content because you need that link to the continent.”
Drexler added that TMCs had been one of the driving forces in encouraging Amadeus to go ahead with the rail project.
“Being able to compare air with rail as well as other modes of transport is something that the TMCs see a lot of value in,” he said. “We also know that corporations would like to see it added into self-booking tools which would feature all their negotiated rates.”
Drexler said the aim for the end of 2013 was to see Europe’s top “four or five” rail operators, including all ATOC members, included in the system.
“This is a good opportunity as we know the demand for rail is there and we have the technology,” he added. “The TMCs have been one of the strongest drivers and we will be working together with them on this.”