Amtrak, Sabre Get There By Rail

Amtrak and Sabre's GetThere today announced an agreement to incorporate Amtrak into GetThere's corporate online booking system. Under the agreement, Amtrak travel options will be presented alongside air travel options within the system. A complete reservation will include rail, rather than list it as a separate booking. GetThere said the first phase of the Amtrak integration is underway, with completion anticipated this year.

At least one-third, if not more, of GetThere's clients are based along the Northeast Corridor rail line that links Washington, D.C., to Boston through New York, said GetThere senior manager of public relations Dan Toporek. This link in particular is running 5 percent ahead of Amtrak's projections for this year, due, in part, to increased rail travel by corporate employees seeking to save time and money.

GetThere's choices for booking will include rail as an integrated booking option so that a trip's rail leg will become "seamless," Toporek said. Moreover, the consolidated data will help create a larger picture of rail travel trends. "We'll be able to do side-by-side comparisons on volume and spend," he added.

Amtrak's first agreement of this kind was with Waltham, Mass.-based e-Travel last October, which brought a rail booking option to e-Travel's online booking system.