Amadeus, Rail Europe Join Forces

Travel agents will be able to book Rail Europe’s extensive rail content— including high-speed trains, scenic trains, night trains and rail passes such as Eurail— on Amadeus as a result of a new agreement. Amadeus will connect all content for Rail Europe 4A, the leading distributor of European Rail worldwide, through the Amadeus Selling Platform, the company’s travel agency point of sale.

“We are witnessing the renaissance of rail in Europe," said Diane Bouzebiba, head of Amadeus Rail. "Travelers coming to Europe are demanding more and more that rail is part of their trip. They see the benefits of rail in terms of comfort and speed, and also because it brings more to travel than just the destination. It is essential for Amadeus to provide our travel agencies with the ability to meet demand in the most productive way possible. Our partnership with Rail Europe will strive to improve travel agents access to rail content, therefore generating additional revenue opportunities and extending the level of service."

Travel agents will be able to book European rail segments productively and as a complement to the traveler’s journey using a merge of the booking information with the customer’s PNR (Passenger Name Record), making this just as easy to integrate as any of the airline, car or hotel products available.

Offering rail segments as part of their customers’ trip improves the quality of the travel agent’s service by providing specialized travel – such as rail passes, which are very popular among leisure travelers visiting Europe – or providing convenient point-to-point travel combinations by adding high-speed rail segments for short-haul trips within Europe.

“Thanks to our partnership with Amadeus, we have the ability to extend our reach to more travel agencies around the world, which will benefit from being able to book rail segments as a complement to long-haul trips" said Pierre-Stéphane Austi, CEO of Rail Europe. "We have already entered a period of rapid evolution with our distribution system, and the Amadeus GDS network is an obvious partner of Rail Europe’s global development program.”

The new product will be piloted with selected travel agencies in India in Q3 and it will be made available in Q4 in a number of countries in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Latin American markets. In a further phase, railways from the Asia Pacific region will also be integrated into the rail platform.

Representing more than 35 European railroads, Rail Europe is the specialist in European Rail and provides and masters all the booking process, from inventory to payment in multiple currencies and forms of payment.

Visit www.amadeus.com.