Amadeus computerizes train reservations

From...

by Michael Meehan

(IDG) -- Amadeus Global Travel Distribution last week became the first operator of a computerized reservations system to add new technology that lets train schedules be listed alongside airline data on the computer screens used by travel agents -- a process complicated by the Balkanized data formats that different railways have implemented.

Madrid-based Amadeus said the change should make it easier for railways to compete with airlines for travel bookings, especially for high-speed trains that can make trips in less than three hours. Air and rail ticketing alternatives can now be ranked against one another on a single screen, instead of on separate ones.

U.K.-based BritRail has already signed up to make its train schedules and ticket availability information available to travel agents in the U.S., Canada and other countries, and Amadeus officials said they expect to add the Norwegian and Swedish railways in the near future.

Amtrak, the U.S. railway formally known as National Railroad Passenger Corp., is also talking with Amadeus about making use of the new technology. Alan Orchison, director of industry alliances at Washington-based Amtrak, said the railway views the chance to list its schedules side-by-side with airline data as "an exciting opportunity."

But putting those capabilities in place isn't a simple matter. Tim Wesley, rail products manager at Amadeus, said railways haven't followed the example of airlines, which long ago realized the benefits of creating centralized reservations systems with uniform methods of storing passenger names and other data. "We're having to shoehorn some of the rail functionality into an airline environment to make this work," Wesley said.

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Amtrak is working to upgrade its internal systems through the addition of XML support and other steps that will let the railway's schedule and fare information be viewed by the nearly 50,000 travel agents who use the Amadeus system, Orchison said. "We're looking to widen the reach we have across many [ticket] distribution channels," he said.

Much of the necessary shoehorning work is being done by Access Rail Inc., a Montreal-based company that takes railway information and uses city codes assigned by the International Air Transport Association to convert the data into listings that Amadeus and its competitors in the reservations business can handle.

Denis Grenier, vice president of business development at Access Rail, said railways should be able to reach a wider audience of travelers by piggybacking on airline-created reservations systems such as Amadeus. "The driving force is the railways realizing they cannot cater to the demand that comes from travel agents if they continue to use only their proprietary systems," he said.

Access Rail also has signed a deal to provide rail information to Amadeus rival Sabre Holdings, although Fort Worth, Texas-based Sabre has yet to announce combined air/rail listings. Grenier said he hopes to have similar agreements in place with Atlanta-based Worldspan and Rosemont, Ill.-based Galileo International, which operate the two other big reservations systems, by the fall.

Krista Pappas, an analyst at Gomez Advisors in Waltham, Mass., said she agreed that the ability to be listed on reservations systems along with airlines could provide "a huge boost" to railways that are willing to change their proprietary ways. "Suddenly, the door's open for them," she said.

For Amadeus and its rivals, meanwhile, increasing the railway listings that they carry is seen as one way to make their systems more appealing as more and more travelers use online travel agencies to directly book trips. The centralized reservations systems "are opening up their eyes to things they never would have before," Pappas said.

Wesley said the influx of high-speed trains in Europe, North America and Asia has made railways a more desirable options for travelers making relatively short trips. For example, Amtrak launched a high-speed train called the Acela Express late last year in the travel corridor between Washington and Boston, and it also foresees similar services on the West Coast and in Florida.

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Amadeus Global Travel Distribution
BritRail Ltd.
Amtrak

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