Amadeus Rail Forum Blog

Air-Rail 2008 conference focuses on integrated ticketing

12th Nov, 2008

I recently attended the Air-Rail 2008 conference at Gatwick, a very well run IARO event, hosted by the enthusiastic BBC’s Nicholas Owen, a self-confessed train lover. The overarching theme was integrated ticketing. The event ran presentations and discussion on customer satisfaction with a focus on ticketing.

We saw Gatwick Express, Airport Express Alliance and Flytoget give some very interesting presentations on how they set out to understand customer needs and the subsequent way that they brand their products, ensuring both their staff and operations are in line with those needs.

The Airport Express Alliance understands why people use Heathrow Express and others don’t, therefore building reasons why they should use Heathrow Connect, allowing them to offer two very different brand propositions.

On the technology side. . . 

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Corporate travel report finds travel managers must balance service quality and cost.

31st Oct, 2008

The economic slowdown means it’s travel managers more than leisure travellers that are tightening the purse strings, but business travel goes on. It’s just that corporate travel managers are more than ever under the scrutiny of the finance department in their companies.

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Heathrow Express first air-rail link to be available worldwide to travel agencies using Amadeus

16th Sep, 2008

Today it was announced that Heathrow Express - which operates a high-speed, non-stop service between Heathrow Airport and central London - has become the first air-rail link to be available worldwide to travel agencies using Amadeus.

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Joint venture for high speed trains

10th Sep, 2008

Plans have been announced by Air France and French transport, waste and water firm Veolia to form a joint venture with the aim of opening a high speed rail service by 2010.

Planned routes include connections between Paris and Amsterdam, KLM’s main hub, and Paris and London beginning in October 2010, when European rail is liberalised and competition in Rail opens.

Apparently the move was spurred by “the difficult position of airlines for journeys of less than three hours” according to Aujourd’hui France.
We’ll find out more on 15 September it seems. . .

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