Bookings can now be made from anywhere in Europe using Sabre Rail DB, which enables tickets and receipts to be printed online or using standard laser printers.
The new system will save agencies printing costs of around £100 a month, as until now, Deutsche Bahn tickets could only be printed on special document printers that incurred monthly fees and which were only available in Germany. Now any agent with a Deutsche Bahn licence can use the new system.
The deal with the GDS is a step towards liberalizing rail booking in Europe that will accompany the expected deregulation of the rail market in 2010. Geoffrey Breeze, Sabre Travel Network's European marketing vice-president, said the venture would also benefit the corporate traveller, who generally prefers online ticketing.
”Rail suppliers in Europe are enjoying significant growth, fuelled by rising airfares, oil prices and environmental awareness,” said Breeze. ”We have spent the last few years working with rail companies around Europe to standardise how these services are booked, ticketed and delivered to the traveller.”
Sabre Rail DB works as a standalone web application with more than 3,000 booking options for 74 regional train companies. Based on Sabre's Merlin product, it allows connections to 39 countries and offers 43 different types of tickets. Agents can also email tickets to customers as PDF files as an alternative to printing them and then sending them on.
bahn.de