Trade relations director at Evolvi Rail Systems, Jon Reeve, says technology and consumer convenience are driving booking channel development
The start of any new year is always accompanied by media interest in the rail sector, usually as a result of the annual fares increase.
For the business travel sector, any increase in cost is unwelcome, but it’s fair to say that the attitude to rail spend management has been transformed over the last decade as a result of increased knowledge about the considerable savings available through the adoption of a policy-driven approach to booking rail.
Whereas previously rail was widely regarded as not really being worthy of consideration as a managed category, it has now taken its correct place alongside air travel and accommodation as an essential component of business travel provision.
The statistics are staggering. The UK’s passenger network now drives £9.5 billion in annual revenues and the number of journeys has increased from 801 million in 1996/97 to 1.6 billion in 2014/2015.
Such growth has brought about a revolution in distribution technology and Evolvi Rail Systems, along with others, has been fundamental in providing travel buyers with the tools to track cost, control the travel purchasing framework and leverage rail travel spend effectively.
The result for the clients of TMCs using the Evolvi platform has been the ability to reduce average ticket values and ‘beat’ annual rail fares increases year-on-year through smarter procurement driven by greater knowledge of booking horizons, innovative functionality and smart policy-setting underpinned by comprehensive management information. Evolvi will be working hard to achieve a similar outcome for TMC clients over the next 12 months.
However, cost is just one factor influencing the users of the rail network. Technology and consumer convenience are driving booking channel development and it is probably fair to say that it is only recently that UK rail operators have begun to embrace new ticketing methodologies in a cohesive way.
Indeed, much was made of the potential for contactless payment to deliver smart travel across the network in a recent government announcement.
If only it were that simple. There remain challenges in this area, and sometimes aspects of the political environment within which the railways operate - both franchising and regulatory - have had the effect of inhibiting rather than expediting many of the developments that have been adopted in other travel industry sectors. Broadly though, substantive progress is being made in terms of facilities such as ticket to mobile and smartcard projects of varying kinds. Much work however needs to be done by regulators to ensure that an appropriate level of national integration is achieved to ensure seamless travel across, for example, the London Underground when part of a cross-London rail journey.
As a booking and fulfilment system technology partner for TMCs, Evolvi sits on the cusp of major change in the way that travel bookers wish to access content and there is much talk in the industry of “open” booking platforms allowing the millennial generation to access content from any device in their possession.
Certainly there are challenges around how best to ensure strict policy adherence governing the procurement of travel services in an era of proliferating demand for booking and ticketing technologies accessible via any chosen device. The business imperative for TMCs and their rail retailing partners is to continue to innovate booking and fulfilment channels in the corporate rail space to underline their value-adding position to corporate users increasingly tech savvy and device hungry.