UK: Train running information website Realtime Trains now sells tickets under the Realtime Tickets brand, building on its established approach to simplifying complex rail data structures and also seeking to grow passenger demand by suggesting travel ideas.
Realtime Trains Managing Director Tom Cairns explained that the retailing platform is designed to be friendly and easy to understand, with ticket options categorised by levels of flexibility.
The newly developed Daytripper function provides the ability to search by budget, rather than destination. Realtime Tickets has worked with travel journalists to list places to visit at more than 170 destinations. Users provide criteria including the number of passengers and railcards to obtain suggestions and a headline price, followed by a ‘seamless’ purchase process.
‘We believe that the rail industry will benefit hugely by the introduction of Daytripper as it attracts a new market to rail’, said Cairns. ‘A recent study by Jacobs for Raileasy, our technology partner, indicated that a significant amount of revenue could be generated for the railway industry by introducing products such as Daytripper that use different search criteria such as budgets.’
Realtime Tickets supports the range of tickets which can be sold by third-party retailers, including Advance tickets, as well as automatic split ticketing. It does not charge booking fees unless it is able to find a saving through split ticketing.
‘After 12½ years of working with real-time train information through Realtime Trains, I’m delighted that we’ve been able to bring our unique perspective on data to the rail retail space with our Daytripper product’, said Cairns. ’Innovation, however, isn’t just about new things — it’s also about better understanding of data and I think we’ve achieved that.’
Raileasy director Joe Sikking added that ‘Realtime Trains is a respected company in the industry and by combining our API technology, we will find the best fares and simplify the ticketing process for customers. We love Daytripper, it’s exactly the kind of innovation that is going to bring incremental revenue to the rail industry.’
