The European Commission Directorate-General for Energy and Transport this summer collected feedback on its intention to develop an integrated airline-rail ticketing system. DG-TREN said EC's role in the project "is that of a catalyst," and its position paper issued at the beginning of the comment period stated that the objective was to "verify the degree of interest and preparedness of the transport/travel industry to take the necessary measures needed to propose and sell integrated air-rail tickets."
Including airlines, railways, global distribution system operators and others, stakeholders were generally interested in pursuing the idea, but noted the cost and complexity of such an endeavor, and various technical and regulatory hurdles.
Separately, rail booking system integrator Wandrian is building a "switch" to help rail lines connect their booking engines to distribution systems. The switch would reroute and connect electronic bookings between and across networks.
In terms of an industry standard covering all of Europe, DG-TREN said the "voluntary undertaking" on integrated air-rail ticketing would ensure a wider choice of European transportation options and allow travelers "to make better use of the existing infrastructure when traveling, including more environmental friendly modes of transport." DG-TREN's objective would allow travelers to obtain from travel agencies, Internet channels or self-service kiosks information on "the best possible combination" of transportation modes--based on price and schedule--and "a single ticket (or all the necessary tickets) in one place and one single operation."
DG-TREN noted cases of existing, limited integration between air and rail, but they apply only between certain airlines and specific rail stations. A wider, cooperative effort would require data sharing between operators ("in particular on the schedules, tariffs and associated services") and "the guarantee of connections and reasonable waiting times," according to DG-TREN.
To accomplish such integration, DG-TREN proposed that the industry either fully incorporate rail services into existing air global distribution systems or develop "a new rail GDS which would allow integrated ticketing with the air sector."
On the former, DG-TREN acknowledged the necessary IT developments. It also noted that rail companies "would pay to GDS operators a fee per reservation, therefore involving negotiations to determine the amount of such fee." Moreover, DG-TREN envisioned participation of rail companies in the International Air Transport Association as a means to facilitate settlement through the Billing and Settlement Plan and to coordinate railway station codes, "which would make it possible to identify them in GDSs."
Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport each said they stand ready to participate in an integrated air-rail ticketing system, but highlighted what they felt were several deficiencies in the proposal.
Though supportive, Amadeus said DG-TREN's intended approach would be "quite challenging." It cited slow progress for existing rail industry initiatives, "a lack of a standard interface," and "disparate" ticketless solutions among railway companies. Amadeus also pointed to difficulty in distributing rail products internationally, given that "rail companies have full control of their inventory distribution, necessitating any reseller to be licensed by them to be able to make a booking." Whereas the airline industry has evolved internationally and therefore is based on standards and integrated systems, Amadeus continued, "rail companies are strongly driven by their domestic market."
Operator of the Apollo, Galileo and Worldspan GDSs, Travelport noted several challenges in integrating rail into a "number of legacy systems," including those related to reserved seating options, ticket changes, revenue management and "after-sales support." It said "significant investments" would be required by GDS firms and rail operators to create "seamless inter-modal" systems.
Travelport suggested a voluntary agreement should include provisions for standard paper and paperless tickets; shared technology allowing for "a common approach" by distributors; "new payment methods that help reduce merchant fees over traditional card charges"; "the sharing of rail booking data similar to GDS MIDT (marketing information data tapes)"; and other details. It specifically noted that air GDSs would need "data related to minimum connection times, platform information, inter-rail ticketing agreements and so on."
Air France also stated a willingness to participate in new systems, and suggested that "air and rail appear to be getting more and more complementary with the extension of their respective networks." Even so, Air France criticized many aspects of DG-TREN's proposal and pointed to various structural and regulatory flaws. Regarding the distribution aspect, it wrote, "The relevance of selling relatively low value train sectors through [GDSs] might be questioned, especially if the implementation costs are high."
Regarding a "new rail GDS," DG-TREN pointed to the Railteam alliance, a group of high-speed rail providers now developing "an interconnection system between operators which will be active in January 2009." DG-TREN described the nascent platform as "a promising rail GDS for the introduction of an integrated ticketing system."
Some stakeholders responding to DG-TREN noted that neither existing GDSs nor a new rail GDS would provide a comprehensive solution. For starters, many railways do not currently participate in any GDSs. At the same time, both the rail operators that do participate in GDSs, as well as the airlines, increasingly favor sales via Internet channels, owing to the lower costs. Therefore, "there is the necessity to implement an Internet solution for intermodal ticketing, ideally with home printing of the ticket," according to Deutsche Bahn.
Meanwhile, DG-TREN suggested and many stakeholders agreed that a first phase of an integrated ticketing system involve "aircraft and high-speed train or conventional rail." It specifically cited high-speed trains serving stations located at airports or "high-quality connections between the airport and the high-speed train station." A second phase would involve such public transport as buses and light rail/underground systems.
Deutsche Bahn objected, noting that in Germany, "about 80 airlines provide train services from/to any railway station in Germany as an additional service to their international flights. This example shows that it is not enough to focus on main stations and high speed traffic. With such a minimum scope, customers' requirements would not be satisfied."
As DG-TREN digests industry feedback on its proposed integrated airline-rail ticketing system, tech firm Wandrian is creating what officials called "the first global rail application programming interface. This new platform will help travel distributors quickly and easily add or expand their rail offerings by integrating all of the world's major rail suppliers into a single API. Major distributors are already using the API to build their rail offerings."
Wandrian lists as "business partners" more than 15 railways as well as Flight Centre, Hogg Robinson Group, JTB and STA Travel. The company also counts as clients American Express, BCD Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel, for which it provides "small systems in certain countries," said senior vice president of business development Charles de Gaspe Beaubien.
The corporate travel market is Wandrian's target, said de Gaspe Beaubien. Asked about corporate self-booking tools, he did not name vendors but said, "We have signed agreements. Right now, the corporate traveler buying U.S. or European rail tickets is probably the largest opportunity."
TMCs and corporate self-booking tool providers have enabled some online bookings with rail firms, largely through one-off connections.