"Having traveled the length of France in one day using three modes of transport the thought of an overnight stay in Paris and an early flight home did not sound appealing. I therefore decided to give the night train a chance, where the time I would have spent checking-in and -out of the hotel, transportation to the airport, airport security check and boarding was skipped…  The gap time between the connecting trains was spent in a quiet restaurant.  Once on the train, the compartments did not have that first-class feel I expected, but it was comfortable and clean. Climbing up to my top bunk I found a complementary bottle of water and earplugs. I arrived in Nice refreshed after a good night's sleep. With this in mind together with its low pricing and convenience, I would not hesitate to take the night train again."

British Rail privatization has been widely criticized; it did not show the improvements in punctuality and reliability that was hoped for and enhancements in customer service are questionable. You would think that train efficiency would improve due to the profit incentive but in Britain many of the passenger franchises hit financial trouble meaning they had no choice but to sign management contracts with the franchising authorities resulting in reduced incentive to innovate. The UK Rail franchising system is perhaps too complex and involves too many companies. Many sources believe that the privatization of the rail infrastructure management led to the deterioration of the track and was potentially the cause of a several fatal crashes. Sweden has taken a different approach to privatization but whether it is better or not is open to discussion.

Sweden’s state railway was split into different independent companies, including passenger, maintenance and station services. The company BV is responsible for the track and SJ, for operating the trains. However this split in responsibility means that BV hasn’t always been responsive to the needs of SJ as they might not have the same priorities.  Rail liberalization in Sweden led to a dramatic decline of jobs in the rail industry sector with the total amount of employees being reduced by over a half between 2001 and 2004. It also caused differences between companies with regard to working conditions, retirement age and work organization.  

Perhaps Europe should seek advice from further afield. Europe should take the Japanese model into consideration which is renowned for its efficiency and convenience. I am not surprised that it is said to be the only profitable rail network in the world!  

It may take some time before we start to see the effects of European Rail privatization. Hopefully it will bring about more positive consequences such as competitive pricing for customers, more seats on more trains and a wider variety of rail products and services on board, than negative outcomes like a decrease in jobs and wages in the rail sector or the undermining the safety of the tracks. 

The previous rail forums have covered such topics as European de-regulation which is even more prominent now since it was enforced at the beginning of this year and also interesting discussions on ‘best practice sharing,’ e-ticketing, selling rail, customer experience and intermodal travel.  

The Amadeus Rail Forum allows delegates to actively participate in workshops that are run by the industry and put forward their own views. As well as an informative and diverse agenda, the social programme will be the perfect opportunity for you to relax and network with key people from the rail industry. 

Participation is by invitation only, due to limited numbers and priority to customers, however, we are always on the lookout for thought provoking presentations and topics.

Amadeus will share with the delegates their product and solution suite for the railways and travel sellers, enabling success in the travel and tourism indusrty.

Topics are now open for discussion on our LinkedIn group.

The venue is yet to be confirmed so watch this space.  

There are two trivial design issues (apart from the sensitivity to the cold, which we do sometimes have 30 km north of London). One relates to the software, one to the hardware.

I notice the latter when I have to move from one type of machine to another because of the above-mentioned credit card defect. If your station is not in the top 10 destinations, you have to go to an A – Z list of stations and start typing in the name of your destination. With one type of machine, you type in W and the first station listed is W Hampstead – West Hampstead, a major interchange with the London Underground and London Overground, and increasingly popular as an easy route to the Canary Wharf financial area.

With the other type of machine, you type in W and the first station on the list is Waddon, an obscure suburban station near Croydon – so obscure that even my spell-checker didn’t approve. To get to West Hampstead, you have to type in WEST and then find the space key – because there are too many station names starting with West for West Hampstead to hit the first screen.

The first type is obviously more convenient – except for the three people wanting to go to Waddon! Why are they different? Why did no-one think?

The hardware defect is in the small LCD screen at waist height where instructions like “Enter your PIN number” and “Withdraw your card” appear. The screen, for reasons known only to the designer (no, the manufacturer – no-one would have designed it like that) is recessed into the vertical body of the machine. Hence if you are more than about 1.8 metres tall, you can only read the screen if you take a step back from the normal position for operating the thing. Indeed, unless you really look you might not notice that there is a screen there at all. And, of course, there is likely to be a small queue behind you onto whose toes you are likely to tread when you step back!

There was a time when senior railway staff got unlimited free rail travel. While I benefited from this (and, as a retired railway employee, still do for leisure trips), I did see the downside. Because senior railway staff never bought tickets, and never went through the hassle ordinary individuals do when doing so. So there was no incentive to change. So it’s back to treading on toes and typing WEST and finding the space key on the keypad….

I hope you enjoyed reading this: I look forward to your feedback. Andrew

An electronic miscellaneous record (EMD) record is being launched inorder to facilitate the sales of ancillary fees through the agent channel including the collecting of these fees. Some railways do offer other services through their products, iDTGV is a good example of adding other add ons to your purchase of the ticket for the journey.

I guess the famous train trolley that rolls up and down the carriages is a perfect example of how extra money can be made from a train journey and was in place long before the LCC introduced it, however how come the airline indiustry has taken it a step further than the railway industry and expects to generate up to USD 58 billion in 2010? .

Adriaan works in the Business Development department for Dutch Passenger Rail operations (NS Reizigers).  He is involved in strategy development and handles performance management for the operating franchise. He also deals with international benchmarking of passenger operations. 

Adriaan has vast knowledge and expertise when it comes to rail. He takes an active role in training Operations Managers for Dutch Rail and to add to his busy schedule, he acts as a guest lecturer at the Delft University of Technology.

The sunshine state got 43% of the votes with Illinois and California close behind with 29% each. The US high speed organisation is holding its next event in Florida, could this be an omen for things to come?

Not all misused statistics are attempts to deceive – just attempts to place one’s own viewpoint in the most flattering light. This is a waste of time if people then find an alternative set of data which undermine your own!

Take, for example, the aviation industry’s comments about CO2 emissions – effectively, they are so small that they are not worth bothering about. Indeed, if you look at the latest “Transport Statistics Great Britain”, you will find that domestic civil aviation accounts for just 0.4% of total national CO2 emissions. However, if you look in more detail at the same table, you’ll find that domestic rail also accounts for just 0.4% of national CO2 emissions. And, of course, domestic rail does significantly more work!

Another fact which always irks me is the one IATA use – that air is the safest means of transport. So it is – if you use one measure of risk. Again using domestic UK figures, air transport has 0.05 fatalities/billion passenger kilometres: rail has 0.7 and car 3.0. However, change the exposure measure to hours and the ranking changes. Rail has 30 fatalities/billion passenger hours, air 31 and car 130. Change the metric to journeys and the ranking changes again – rail at 20 fatalities/billion passenger journeys, car at 40 and air at 117! Not the safest!

It’s obvious when you think about it. Landing and take-off are the most dangerous part of a flight, so if you use a measure of risk – passenger-km – which minimises this, you get the most favourable answer!

And, of course, airport workers are notoriously prone to accidents – something IATA is tackling, for excellent reasons.

Moral of the story? Don’t use statistics as a drunk uses a lamp-post – for support rather than illumination! Get to the bottom of any statistics you use and explain clearly what you are using. If you don’t, the opposition will find alternative statistics or will pick holes in yours. The sound-bite is less good because you have to add an explanation – but it does demonstrate you are taking the trouble to check your data!

To end with another un-attributed quote – “Figures can’t lie, but liars can figure”! I hope you enjoyed reading this: I look forward to your feedback.

Andrew  

You can check-in on line to avoid the check-in desk queue. Or you can use the increasingly sophisticated self-service kiosks. I actually managed to use one of these to obtain my own self-service bag-tag in Toronto recently, and affixed it sufficiently accurately for the bag to arrive safely at Heathrow on the same flight as me!

However, if you have hold baggage, you still have to queue for the bag drop (no longer called “Fast bag drop” at many airports!). You then have to queue for security checks – sometimes plural, because some airports check you and your hand baggage in one process and, just when you thought you could head for the queue at the duty-free shop, they stop you and get you to take your shoes off! Once through that hassle, you often have to queue for a subsidiary checkpoint at the gate, wait in the jetway to get onto the plane, then have similar problems at your destination.

Some of these delays are due to someone somewhere in the aviation or security industry. These people are doing their job, often with a limited budget and limited space, and doing their best to make sure that everyone gets safely to their destination. Some can be regarded as a necessary evil.

Other delays are due to passengers – not people like you and me, of course, but other people!

I was in a queue for screening at Gatwick recently and the lines were horrendous. It took exactly 20 minutes – including the 2 minute silence for Armistice Day – from joining a queue to getting through the process. Despite the enormous queue behind her, one lady some distance in front of me, on being told she couldn’t take a bottle of water through, drank the lot on the spot before throwing the bottle away. Drinking a third of a litre of water took some time – while the entire queue behind her stood and waited. Mind you, that’s better than one story – which might be true – of the guy who tried the same trick with a litre bottle of vodka!

It’s also pretty common for people to wait in those snaky lines passing numerous signs or TV screens telling them to take off their jackets and take lap-tops out of bags – and get to the front of the queue and say, “Oh, do I have to take my jacket off? And yes, I do have a lap-top buried in the depths of my bag - do I need to take that out too?”. Just watch next time you go through security – what percentage of the time are the security arches actually in use?

And once on aircraft, people happily stand in the aisle loading their hand baggage into the overhead bins – while a whole plane-full of people fumes on the jetway waiting to get on. Stand out of the way, please!

Airlines have experimented with quick ways to board passengers – by row numbers from the back, windows first then middle seats then aisle seats. Has anyone tried unloading the plane by asking people without wheeled cases to de-plane first? Probably not – there’d probably be a riot, even though it’s those guys who take time to unload their bags from the bins!

There are irritating delays to passengers going through airports. Some are the unavoidable fault of the system: some are the avoidable fault of the system. But too many are the avoidable fault of thoughtless passengers.

I hope you enjoyed reading this: I look forward to your feedback. Andrew  

Not so long ago, we used a device to transmit and receive messages over long distances - the telegraph. Now we attend virtual reality meetings thanks to TelePresence! This evolution shows the speed at which technological innovation is shaping the way we communicate with and sell to customers.

The research paper reveals 3 broad trends which are influencing the travel industry today: increasingly knowledgeable customers, a more technological trip experience and the growth of ‘niche’ travel. In addition, the pace of change has been accelerated by the global economic downturn which has put a premium on finding the best product at the best price without compromising on service, and the emergence of a new breed of affluent travellers from eastern countries (less affected by the recession) who seek a travel experience catered to their own cultural needs and demands.

Knowledge: the internet has put extensive interactive content in front of the traveller (user reviews, social networking, Web 2.0). With more knowledge, consumers are becoming experts in travel and are empowered to make additional demands on travel suppliers.

Technology: has changed the way we book travel. A dramatic shift to online and mobile travel fulfilment is forcing providers to change the way they interact with customers.

Niche Travel: travel companies must look for opportunities to sell specialised travel services in new ways, to new customers in order to protect revenues. In car rental alone, we have seen a new business model emerge: ‘Zipcar’ lets clients pick up their own car from the street thanks to GPS technology which locates each available car and directs the client to its position.

What can you do to build and retain brand loyalty?

1. Provide a fast yet smooth booking experience through all your distribution channels (direct and indirect).

2. Deliver comprehensive information which is easy to access and filter.

3. Be price competitive but excel in service expectations.

4. Ensure consistency between brand promise and delivery.

In short, travel suppliers must work harder than ever to improve the user experience before, during and after the trip: if they liked it they will tell others - if they didn’t, they will tell even more!

* If you would like a copy of the Amadeus Amateur/Expert Traveller White Paper, please click here.

However, this year why not think about an alternative way to travel to your favorite snow sports destination. Lots of popular European destinations are accessible by rail and, even though flights are still the most common method of transport, the relative popularity of trains increased for the third year in a row. Market share for the train as a method of transport to ski resorts has increased 1% year-on-year to 6%. If we compare that to the 72% of people who choose to fly to their resort, 6% seems quite a small figure but there is definitely an upward trend. (Ski Club of Great Britian - Snow Sports Analysis 2009) 

More and more people are opting for the train and this could be due to the fact of the increasing expense of adding extra baggage such as skis on the low cost carriers. British Airways is now abolishing free ski carriage so Swiss Airlines are now the only airline not to charge for ski carriage. Going by train, passengers don’t have to worry about this extra hassle as there are no hidden costs and no luggage weight restrictions.  

I should also point out that, if you travel by train, you may get the added advantage of an extra 2 days on the slopes. Some journeys can be made overnight meaning that you arrive in the morning in time to ski and then you leave in the evening the following weekend.  However, if you fly your 7 night stay turns into just a 6 day skiing holiday.  

There are many rail alternatives to travel to your winter sports destination. Eurostar runs a Ski Train which means French resorts, such as Courcheval, Val Thorens and Meribel can be easily reached. For Swiss resorts passengers can take the TGV Lyria from Paris to Zurich then continue their journey on an intercity train. In many cases trains go direct to resorts such as St Moritz or the Austrian resort of St Anton.  

One of the many highlights of travelling by train to a ski resort is the spectacular scenery which is right outside your window. With lakes and snow capped mountains, the landscape is breathtaking. It is also a very family-friendly method of transport as you can reserve seats in tables of four; children are able to draw and play games in a spacious environment while the parents can wander to get a drink from the bar or even get meals in the special dining carriage on certain services.  

Not only is train travel good for the passenger, it is good for the environment. According to a study by the l'Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maitrise de l'Energie, 73% of a typical ski resorts carbon footprint is made up by the journey’s tourists take to get there and given that the carbon footprint of a trip by plane is 8–10 times greater than the equivalent journey by rail, the environmental benefits would be considerable if more skiers took the train!

One Saturday recently, I used First Capital Connect’s local train service to go into London. Because of engineering work associated with the Thameslink programme, which will increase capacity and service on the route, all trains were terminating at St. Pancras instead of going through London to Gatwick and Brighton. That was one hassle: my journey would have been significantly easier if I’d been able to ride through.

The second hassle was apparent at St. Pancras, where the train stopped with the back of the train adjacent to the exit. If it had stopped with the second and third car by the exit instead, nearly everyone would have had a shorter walk! Immediately afterwards came hassle 3. There are two escalators from platform to mezzanine level – normally one up, one down.

That day was the same, but the down escalator was barriered off – obviously, trains were terminating at that platform so no-one wanted to go down to board trains. Everyone wanted to go up. The thought, “Why don’t they switch it off and save energy?” was immediately followed by, “Why don’t they run that one up too?”. The answer, probably, is that four times an hour staff needed to go down and meet trains: it was easier for them to have an escalator than to use the stairs!

The fourth hassle also concerned escalators. From mezzanine to ground level there are 3 escalators. These are normally used sensibly, with two running up in the morning peak and two down in the evening peak. Today, there were two going down and one up. Why, exactly? Has no-one noticed that, when passengers arrive at a terminus to catch a train, they do so in small groups, whereas when they leave an arriving train at a terminus they do so 200-300 at a time? So why weren’t there two escalators going up, rather than down? Bear in mind that this was a summer weekend, on a line which serves Luton airport and the Eurostar terminal and normally goes through to Gatwick airport – there were, of course, people with small children, with buggies, with heavy luggage.

A second escalator up would have helped disperse the crowd and got people where they were going quicker. Ok, none of these hassles was a deal-breaker. They were all nuisances, nothing more, especially when you stopped to think that the station staff hadn’t stopped to think. But they all cumulatively added to the hassle of going by train. Only the first one was reasonable: the other three were quite unnecessary. How many other trivial hassles are there just because people won’t think about what passengers want? How about correcting this, First Capital Connect, and leaving the hassle to the airlines?

I hope you enjoyed reading this:

I look forward to your feedback.

Andrew

Obama had propsed 8 billion dollars for initial investment in high speed rail, however the Americans enthusiasim for high speed rail threatens to break the bank of Obama's rail budget. The total number of proposed projects now amounts to 7 times the original budget allocation according to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The FRA have received 259 applications from 34 different states requesting a total of 57 billion dollars!

The poll also highlights the importance of 'inter-modal transport.' Travellers are looking to get to their destination in the most hassle-free way possible, therefore providing shuttle services from the station gives the passenger their complete point-to-point package.

This new partnership between Amadeus and Rail Europe shows that travel agencies are seeing a rise in demand for rail products from their customers and it also highlights the revival of rail travel throughout Europe.  

Amadeus will connect the Rail Europe content through its travel agency point of sale, the Amadeus Selling Platform meaning that the travel agents can now offer their customers a wide variety of rail products including high speed trains, scenic trains, night trains and rail passes. This generates additional revenue for the travel agent but also allows them to provide a ‘total trip experience’ to their customers. Rail products can be booked in addition to flights to give a convenient point-to-point travel combination which is particularly advantageous for business travellers. Also, the option of scenic trains and rail passes is ideal for leisure travellers and tourists visiting Europe.  

Travel agencies in India will be the first to pilot this new product in Q3 before it is made available to numerous agencies in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Latin America regions in Q4. In a further phase railways from the Asia-Pacific region will also be integrated into the platform.

Many congress men and women presented to make their pitch to the Obama billions, with California, Florida, Illinois, Oregan, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas making the first moves. Europe is given as the bench mark and many european railways were there to present past experiences and advice, just like we were to remind everyone that once the tracks are built and the trains are ready there is a need to manage the passengers, through the total trip experience. Technology will play a key role in helping ridership reach its expected figures, customer data, loyalty plans, ticketing, booking, reservations, train re-allocation, the list goes on.

What I did learn though is that there is an awful long way to go but there are some quick wins, if anything we have learned in the past, it's to make good use of the 8 billion and invest in a simple success rather than diluting it across many projects. Pick out 2 large city pairs with a strong business case, both leisure and corporate, and implement it.

London, who will be hosting the Games in 2012, has some large shoes to fill after Beijing’s tremendous effort in 2008. Transport operations were carried out with military precision. Automated Fare Collection Systems were implemented without a hitch and the investment of $3.2 billion dollars in 3 new subway lines seamlessly eased the traffic during the games. Not only were the subways operationally flawless, the stations were also aesthetically pleasing. They had been designed according to different themes, all with a fresh and contemporary feel.

The IOC could expect the same high level of organisation from its Asian counterpart as Tokyo is claiming that it will host ‘the most compact and efficient games ever.’ Japan’s capital previously hosted the Games in 1964 so its past experience could work in its favour.  From a railways point of view Tokyo ticks all the boxes. It already boasts the world’s most extensive urban rail network. There are 13 subway lines and almost all competition venues will be served by subways. 52 railway networks are operated by the East Japan Railway Company and on-train information will provide passengers with competition results, tourist information and directions to venues, allowing the excitement and spirit of the games to truly permeate throughout the city.  There will also be a new Narita Express Railway Line which will connect the city with the international airport, making it easy for athletes and spectators from across the globe to reach the Olympic Park. Furthermore for all the domestic spectators and athletes, a major advantage is that Tokyo is the hub of 6 Shinkansen bullet trains. Between Japan’s two biggest metropolises, Tokyo and Osaka, 10 trains run per hour with a minimum 3 minute frequency.

The city of Madrid is bidding for the second time in a row after losing to London in the race for the 2012 Olympics. Although it was not successful the IOC was very impressed with Madrid’s technical aspects and actually ranked it in first place in the category of ‘transport concept.’ Madrid has made some alterations to its bid for 2016. Its transport services will be tailored to meet demand and the specific needs of the participants’ i.e running services early morning and late at night. Madrid will encourage a ‘Park and Rail’ concept as competition venues will not provide car parking for spectators. A major plus point from a rail perspective is that, by 2016, Madrid will be connected to all sub cities via AVE high speed lines. RENFE, who operates the Spanish high speed network, will be running services that connect Madrid with Merida and Valencia in time for 2016. In the space of 7 years, the high speed network will almost certainly abolish short haul flights within Spain and also to other European countries as well. By 2016, the high speed network will be even more developed and if the Games were hosted in Madrid, the benefits would be seen, not just in Spain, but in a greatly connected and inter-linked Europe.

The major advantage of having high speed trains would definitely sway my vote in choosing the city, and it is something that Chicago and Rio’s bids are missing.

For a country that was built by the railroad, America has very much lacked funding over the last few decades and this does not bode well for Chicago. Many have concerns that its public transport system is not capable of handling the extra million people who will influx the city in 2016. Chicago currently has 1,146km of rail network and state that 90% of event venues are served by 2 or more rail stations. However, few major competition venues are directly adjacent to rail stations, they are 1 or 2 km away which means that bus shuttles in designated Olympic lanes will be used. Chicago’s entire rapid transit system carries just 620,000 passengers per day whereas the new javelin service that London has put in place for the 2012 Olympics can transport up to 240,000 passengers per hour! In comparison to Madrid and Tokyo Chicago is well behind. Tokyo has the capacity to carry 8,700,000 riders daily on its rapid transit system and Madrid is capable of 2,500,000 (thetransportpolitic.com 10/09/09)

The final candidate is Rio de Janeiro, who has put forward the most expensive bid of the four with a projected cost of $14.4 billion. A Games has yet to be hosted in South America and it could be open for discussion whether this could work for or against the bid!  Will the IOC take a risk by choosing a ‘developing’ country with perhaps a not as developed or proficient transport infrastructure? Rio is proposing to renovate its suburban railway line and upgrade its metro system but some say money would be better spent on education, security and social needs. Rio’s bid puts less emphasis on rail and more on road. It is proposing a brand new bus rapid transit system although its entire rapid transit system would only be capable of handling 580,000 riders per day, even less than Chicago.

If the selection was based solely on the rail links and public transport system each city has to offer it is clear that Tokyo and Madrid would be the front runners. Tokyo perhaps has the edge as it currently has the more developed high speed network of the 2 cities and has the capability of moving the greatest number of people per day. However, having a slight bias towards Europe I would like to see Madrid given the chance to really develop its transport system. Europe’s high speed network could be operated at full capacity as many tourists could take the opportunity to travel onwards to other cities after the Games using high speed rail.

All will be revealed in a matter of hours when the city is announced in Copenhagen on the 2nd of October.

China is a particularly attractive market as it has a rapidly growing high speed network and the government has planned to invest a huge amount of money in the coming years. According to China’s Mid and Long Term Network plan, China is to finish construction of its high speed network linking key cities composed of four north-south lines and four east-west lines by 2020. The total length is to reach 12,500km with most of the lines opening at a speed of 200km/h or above.

The interesting programme will cover China’s crucial projects including the Beijing – Shang High Speed Line and the Guangzhou – Shenzhen Hong Kong Express link.

It will also focus on financial issues such as ‘creating the best way of funds infusion under the current investment upsurge’ and ‘how to drive business forward through Public-Private partnership mode.’

Others issues discussed will be ‘Technology and innovations for tomorrow’s railway transport’ and ‘Ensuring the capacity and frequency of high speed rail dedicated networks.’

Amadeus have two delegates attending this event, Marcos Isaac (Director Travel Services Business Group) and Michelle Allen (Sales and Accounts Manager, Amadeus Rail). Marcos will be speaking about Technology as an innovator for the railway industry and will be on a panel with Michael Schabas - Global Rail Consultant and Senior Advisor to the World Bank  

You will be able to follow the progress of the event as they will be updating our Twitter account with highlights from the speeches so as to keep everybody informed!

The critical reason for dropping the airport link was budget constraint, due to the fact that the cost of the project had escalated so much from the original proposal. The cost of the project was initially estimated at around £115 million but it constantly increased and was going to end up at nearer £400 million.  

The 15 km railway line would have run from Glasgow Central Station, making one stop at Paisley and then direct to Glasgow Airport. It would have seen 4 trains run every hour between the Glasgow city centre and the airport. It would have been a perfect solution for the many athletes arriving at Glasgow Airport giving them a mode of transport in which the whole team could easily travel together to their hotel in the city centre. The tourists and spectators arriving for the games would also have also been able to take advantage of the service. However the benefits of the rail link would have gone beyond the games and was estimated to deliver £3.14 million per annum in tourism and leisure.

Recently the Edinburgh airport rail link project was also dropped meaning Scotland is falling behind the rest of Europe on future transport developments. It will not have rail links to its two biggest airports which could have an affect on the economic growth of the cities they serve. The loss of the project also means the loss of nearly 130 000 much needed jobs which would have been created. However, the Scottish Government is backing an alternative solution, a bus rapid transit system, named ‘FastLink’ but the planed route will not connect Glasgow city with the airport. The proposed route will provide a link to the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC).  

Some politicians are stating that both the Glasgow and Edinburgh Rail link were critical to the infrastructure of the Commonwealth Games but the Games organising committee are not surprisingly responding by saying that they won’t be vital to the success of the Games. Even if the project had been allowed to carry on it is unlikely that’s it would have been finished on time. It was supposed to be completed in 2 stages before 2014 but was already running 2 years behind schedule.

In my job, I have to fly – I have to travel to see IARO members, to speak at conferences and to see the latest developments in the air-rail world. I usually travel in economy and very occasionally in economy plus: I only travel in business if I can get a good deal or I can upgrade on points.

My luxury is that I try not to fly overnight. The main reason is that I can’t sleep for long. Even flying (on points) in business class recently on United between Los Angeles and London I only managed two hours uninterrupted sleep: I subsequently read, worked or dozed.

Moreover there’s the time issue. Flying, say, Chicago to London overnight you leave at around 20:20 local time and arrive at 10:00 local time. By the time the aircraft has got to cruise altitude and the crew are ready to serve a meal, it’s around 21:30 local: by the time you’ve finished eating and are ready to sleep it’s 23:00 local. But that’s 5:00 UK time! Two or three hours later the crew wake you up to serve breakfast so that everything’s tidy for the landing at Heathrow. So maximum sleep time, even on a 6350 km flight, is 2-3 hours.

Normally when I go to North America I return by day: I can do this from Toronto, Boston, New York and Washington DC (and sometimes Chicago). It’s a bind, because if I’m coming from the West Coast, I need to stay a night near one of these airports – and I have yet to find a hotel I like near JFK airport, for example.

Airlines don’t like eastbound daytime Transatlantic flights – they do nothing for aircraft utilisation. The timetable they prefer on, say, the London - Chicago route is to leave Heathrow at something like 11:40, arriving Chicago O’Hare at 14:10 then return at 20:20 arriving 10:00. One aircraft can do one return trip every 24 hours. A daytime eastbound flight would leave Chicago at something like 9:00 and arrive in London at 22:40. It would then have to stay there until 8:00 next day, arriving 10:30 in Chicago – too late to make a daytime flight back to the UK. Effectively that’s one round trip every 48 hours – half the productivity of the normal arrangement!

Going to the Far East also leaves me with a problem. If I go to Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpur, I can leave London around midday and arrive early morning local time, or leave late evening and arrive late the following afternoon.

If I leave at midday, fine, I get lunch at the expected time – but it’s then late evening Hong Kong time. I’m expected to sleep for the rest of the night – but my body says that’s too early!

Leaving around 21:00 is better. I get an evening meal rather later than I like, and settle down to sleep at a reasonably normal time. But that’s 7:00 Hong Kong time! Again, confusing!

The real problem is the Middle East. Why do airlines insist on flying to London  at anti-social hours? From Abu Dhabi there’s a flight at 2:10, from Bahrain at 1:10, Doha at 23:20, Dubai at 1:40 or 2:45 and Riyadh at 2:20. Why?

How do others cope with this?  

I hope you enjoyed reading this: I look forward to your feedback. Andrew

many of the airport websites are full of detail giving the traveller good local knowledge on how to get to the city downtown. Amadeus CheckMyTrip is a great way of finding out more about your destination. Just type in your booking reference and lastname and your are given useful links and information about your destination.

Try it and let us know what you think!

PS don't forget you can now book KLIA Ekspres, Heathrow Express and Arlanda Express on the Amadeus Selling Platform as quickly and easily as booking a flight.

Most people answering the poll still don't see that it is important to check your carbon footprint to decide on which journey you would take. Only 14% always check when travelling, whereas 50% rarely or never check.

This could be for a number of reasons, on long journeys we don't seem to get a choice (an aeroplane is an aeroplane) and on shorter journey's there may already be a good rail service. However, it's possible to look further than this by actually looking at your whole journey and stay. For example, on the NH hotels blog you can find Top Tips for Reducing Your Carbon Footprint While Travelling that look to help reduce the amount of waste and energy we use up in hotels.

Also worth finding out if the transport you are taking have taken steps to reduce their carbon emission, this could be aircraft type or initiatives such as the Eurostar's Tread Lightly project with a goal to cut emissions per passenger by 25% by 2012.

So next time you plan your journey how about checking out whether the company your travel with or are staying with can help you reduce your overall carbon emissions.

A year or two back, one train company in the UK had the annoying habit of prefacing all announcements with the words, “Please be advised that…”. Not only is this completely meaningless verbiage, it’s most confusing. Imagine you are an Italian visitor with only a little English. By the time you’ve worked out what these four words are and tried – unsuccessfully – to decide what if anything they mean, you’ve missed the rest of the announcement and the fact that your train is leaving from a different platform. And this is the part of the message which actually matters!

By all means use some kind of “Call attention” sound at the start of announcements (and I do like the gong which prefaces announcements on German train stations) – but use a musical sound rather than a meaningless string of words!

This particular string, incidentally, derives from commercial jargon in use in Charles Dickens’ time. Then, letters from commercial firms to their clients began with a respectful, “We beg to advise you that …”. That in itself is a misuse of the verb “to advise”: it isn’t a synonym for “to inform”, which is what the letter was doing.  

Another pet hate is First Capital Connect, on which I commute. I am routinely told that, “This train will be formed of 8 coaches”. Will be? Surely it is already – I’m not at the terminus! “The train IS formed of 8 coaches”. And why say “formed of” – why not just “has”?  

Keep It Simple - especially on a line serving two major London airports as well as feeding into London’s Eurostar terminal, and which therefore just might carry a few passengers whose first language is not English!

Being (in case you hadn’t already guessed) something of a pedant where language is concerned, I also baulk at, “This train is now approaching Edinburgh”. Actually, guys, it’s been approaching it since it left London four and a half hours ago! The big deal is that it’s now arriving at Edinburgh – so why not say so!

Buses in Porto can say “Next stop Oriente”: trains in Sweden can say “Next: Stockholm” – who needs more than that?  

Do you have any pet grievances or irritations like this? And if one of these is people like me who draw your attention to annoying phrases and make you think about them every time you hear them, rather than letting them just drift over you, I’m not sure that I want to know!

I hope you enjoyed reading this: I look forward to your feedback. Andrew  

When someone looks to book their holiday from London to Nice by train it’s deemed as being unique or niche travel; but why?

America currently has 362 km of high speed track which is comparatively small in relation to Japan’s 1,285 km or France’s 1,872 km of track. However, Obama said that the first round of money would go to upgrading and increasing speeds on existing lines. The second and third phase would focus on high speed planning and construction of new corridors.

One state may be leading the race for high speed funds; California’s voters last November approved nearly 10 billion dollars in state bonds to be combined with federal money to build 800 miles of high speed track. The line will connect San Diego in Southern California to the capital Sacremento in the North. There have also been plans put in place to extend the line to Las Vegas which will reduce congestion on the Interstate-15 between Los Angeles and Vegas.

Final applications are due by 24th August and the FRA will start distributing funds in September. Although it will only cover a fraction of the cost of building the new network, it shows the public that the government is investing money wisely and creating tangible benefits. Obama hopes high speed rail will transform the transportation system in the US just as much as President Eisenhower’s interstate highway system did in the 1950’s.

Travel agents wanting to book Klia Ekspres should search for availability between Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) to Kuala Lumpur city centre (XKL).

The 57km journey on the KLIA Ekspres into the city centre takes only 28 minutes. A one-way ticket on the KLIA Ekspres costs just 35 RM whereas a taxi fare could cost nearer 100 RM. The train itself was launched in April 2002 and has since carried over 20 million passengers.

Passengers taking KLIA Ekspres from the airport arrive in the largest transit hub in South East Asia; Sentral Station. Sentral Station is currently undergoing extensive development to construct office towers, business suites, international hotels, luxury apartments and shopping malls. The works are scheduled to be complete by 2015.

So safety comes out tops! with punctuality a close second.

Another hassle was that I tried to check in just under 24 hours in advance of my flight. I then found I could only check in 23 hours in advance because I might have a connecting flight – which (the system said) might be more than 24 hours later!  

This is better, incidentally, than a recent experience with Air Canada. I was flying from London to Los Angeles via Vancouver, and couldn’t check in on line for my 9:50 flight from London until 22:20 the previous day - 11½ before departure from London but 24 hours before my flight from Vancouver!  

Having retried an hour later and found my flight, I was sent a test transmission – a test message to my mobile phone. Having successfully got this, I was sent a text message with the 3-line URL of my boarding pass. This had to be copied and pasted into the browser field of my mobile phone’s internet connection so that I could be sent my boarding pass.  

The boarding pass itself is a combined 2D bar code and text message. Next day at the airport, I had to show the text message to the security staff checking boarding passes and passports: I had to show the 2D bar code to the staff at the gate and the text message to the staff welcoming me on board the flight. Each time, of course, I had to connect my mobile phone to the internet to access the message.

I have yet to find what this cost!  

I couldn’t help comparing this with the system on Airport Express Oslo. At the airport there is a ticket barrier with a screen and a credit card reader beside it. You swipe your credit card through the reader slot: there is a screen beside it with a short list of destinations and fares.. You touch the name of your final station on the screen, the barrier opens and you walk through. How wonderfully simple!  

I hope you enjoyed reading this: I look forward to your feedback. Andrew  

It is hoped that the upgrade of the fleet of seven trains will give a ‘brand new travel experience.’ The updated modern design will further improve passenger comfort and will also increase passenger capacity. With much emphasis put on limiting the total emissions of the airport, increasing passenger capacity of the express will help to reduce its carbon footprint and its overall impact on the environment. Passenger comfort is clearly a main priority although, according to our Amadeus Rail opinion poll so far, 3% of business travelers view comfort as the most important thing! As long as the refurbished trains are reliable, punctual and safe, business travelers will be very satisfied with the service!

The vast sum invested in this project will help towards achieving the goal of a fully integrated service, making the rail connection a fundamental part of the flight experience. However, the crucial point to success is making sure that the travelers adapt to and accept this concept of an integrated travel experience and are encouraged to book their express ticket along with their flight ticket. Refurbishment of the trains will start in February 2010. 

Paula is a qualified ‘aussie specialist’ working at the business travel agency and absolutely loves "Oz"! She is the person to talk to for travel down under. Also, being Swiss, she is somewhat more familiar with rail travel on the continent which has come in handy for her colleagues on a few occasions. In her spare time, Paula is a volunteer with the Northern Ireland branch of Cats Protection, the UK’s leading cat welfare charity from whom Paula has adopted two cats. So I guess she will be downloading a few "Podcats" to listen to in the not too distant future.

IARO is the International Air Rail Organisation, a 12-year old London based industry group. Our mission is to bring together people interested in rail connections to airports and to spread good ideas and world class best practice. We do this through a newsletter, “Air Rail Express”; by our websites, www.iaro.com and www.airportrailwaysoftheworld.com; by our unique databases of airport railways; by our research reports on topics of member interest; and by our regular conferences.

Our member include railways, airports, airlines, universities, consultants and suppliers. We deal with all kinds of rail connections to airports – from the 16 up-market Airport Expresses; through the regional rail connections you find in Zürich, Manchester and many other places; to the metros and light rail systems which are the most numerous examples. Air cargo is a growing sector too.  

Let me tell you about the conference we ran in Hamburg earlier this week, to give you a flavour of our events. We started with a tour of the very beautiful airport – this one really does have a Wow! factor – and a ride on the 6-month-old (and highly successful) S-Bahn suburban rail connection into the city. A feature of this railway – and a few others in Germany – is that airport trains combine with a local train at a junction. We were able to watch this splitting and joining procedure, which was done in a very slick and efficient fashion – if you were on either half of the train, you probably wouldn’t notice it. Once in the city centre, we were given a tour of the City Hall, and then a reception there. Next day we had a very full set of conference sessions. After a welcome from Michael Eggenschweiler, CEO of the airport, we started with the local scene – presentations on Hamburg airport and the history of its railway connection. Then we expanded to other parts of Germany – accessibility planning, airport planning in the country, and then some research on airport choice based on a study of passengers originating in the Köln area. A session on passengers with reduced mobility provoked a lot of debate. We heard from an airline, an airport and a government body on the complex issues - made more complex by the different legislative framework on different sides of the Atlantic. As usual at IARO events, we were concerned with the interface. The airlines have good procedures and so do the railways - but what happens on an airport railway? After lunch we looked at the current financial situation – how are we all managing in the downturn? What is the impact? Where are we affected – and where are we un-affected? Two impressive research projects were then described: this was followed by a presentation on a rail link to Prague Ruzyne airport. Finally, we heard a case study on the enhancement of Zürich airport. Presentations are available on a memory stick: email events@iaro.com for details of the price of this. Next day we held a half-day workshop on Managing Disruption – something of considerable interest to airport railways, whose passengers are more sensitive about delays than the average passenger. This workshop will contribute towards a future IARO report highlighting best practice on dealing with all kinds of disruption.  

I’d like to share one example given by a delegate, who had been on a train which had left London normally and then started to slow down then accelerate, slow down again then accelerate. People were looking round nervously, wondering what was wrong. The driver totally defused the situation by announcing, “The problem is that our pants keep coming down. By ‘our pants’ I mean our pantograph, the piece of equipment which collects electricity from the overhead wires”. Everyone relaxed in gales of laughter – but everyone on the train understood quite clearly what the problem was, and that there was a real human being in charge! The conference brought together delegates from 14 countries. We shared ideas, we networked, we talked a lot and learned a lot. We also enjoyed the beauties of Hamburg in stunning weather: we were able to appreciate its food, its beer and its situation together in ideal circumstances. Our next event is in the equally beautiful city of Vancouver: we are focussing on successful light rail to airports. Details are on www.iaro.com/events.shtml. I hope you enjoyed reading this: I look forward to your feedback. Andrew  

Happy reading and don't forget to join in the debate and leave your thoughts.

You get an instant reply displaying the ticket and if you are lucky you get a valid ticket in less than 1 minute! How's that for service? 

http://www.eta.co.uk/Rail-company-launches-noisy-carriages-for-famillies/12074  

Is this going to be as successful as their IdTGV ideas on the Paris – Marseille and Paris Montpellier Routes? Surely they’ll add a quiet coach too so that parents could take it in turns to go and have five minutes peace and quiet from time to time ;-)

The reason behind this increase is only that now, TMC and corporations can book rail much easier. In this new revolution, at least for the UK, the role of companies like Evolvi, making rail content much accessible and easier, and the Travel Distribution Companies, like Amadeus, putting rail availability on the screens alongside other travel options.

This is just the beginning. There are major challenges to face, like the standardization of a rail booking. But step by step, rail is, paradoxically, taking off

Do you think this would increase rail sales? 

http://www.eta.co.uk/Green_travel_insurance_holiday_makers_who_do_not_fly/node/10916

With increasing speeds, surely this is the best way for football fans to travel to the match to really savour the experience?

(Trenitalia is one of the largest rail operators in Europe, operating over 9,200 trains daily, carrying around 1.5million passenger for an annual total of almost 500 million people spending over €50 billion on the high speed network since 1995. By December 2009 they will have high speed trains running between Rome and Milan every 15 minutes with a total journey time of three hours (currently four and a half hours!)

NTV will be operating on this route too, starting in 2011 with 13 trains a day. Mr di Montezemolo is sure he and his fellow investors are on to a winner. “Italy is a country made for high-speed trains. There is nothing to be gained from investing in airlines.”)

You can buy a Thomas Cook European Rail schedules book, but what if the schedules change? With deregulation around the corner this would be a great first step to provide much needed visibility for the railways.

Overall results show that of all non-air services offered by leisure travel agents in the UK, hotel bookings are the most widely requested, followed by Cruise and Airport Transfers, and of all non-air business travel services offered by agents in the UK, hotel, rail and car rental bookings are the most widely requested.

Agents polled felt that the success of non-air sales was primarily driven by the level of commissions offered by such service providers which prove to be a valuable source of additional revenue as reported figures show booking levels down for 2008 versus 2007.

However, the poll suggested that technology could help to make non-air bookings even easier to sell, with features such as automated prompts, more integrated technology, and more sales skill training/better product knowledge being the top three on their wish-lists for 2009.

For a full poll report with selected results visit:

http://is.gd/vmYq

Rail holds this position for a number of reasons; speed, direct city centre to city centre travel and comfort among others, but as Arbelado Carillo, the director general of Renfé points out, “it’s not just speed, not just the chronometer factor, but also the fact that it allows you to make so much better use of your time…we offer the people the chance to get going with their working day in an office space that is enticingly different, placid and agreeable, on an aeroplane it is time lost.” He continues this theme in another interview with The Guardian, “Time spent in a train is time won… In a train you can work, read, talk, use the internet, eat or simply relax and enjoy the journey. With a plane, the only objective is to arrive.” Guillaume Pepy is also quoted as saying something similar, “I like to think in terms of people gaining time on trains rather than spending it.”

And with this time that the commuting British public has "gained" they’ve added ₤9bn to their economy and I’m sure Messieurs Carillio and Pepy feel that rail was the primary reason.

Delegates can gain insights into the vital issues:

• Understanding the past, the present and the future of the Railway sector in the CEE Region
• The necessity for sustainability in the Transportation industry, and Railways role within this
• The effects of market liberalisation on the CEE Railways market
• Is inter-modality crucial for the future of a viable Railway marketplace?
• Large and small scale Railway Industry investment strategies
• Opportunities and challenges of CEE specific countries
• Comprehensive forecast of Railway Industry investment and commercial trends
• Detailed analysis of CEE legislative and regulatory issues

Amadeus is speaking on day 2 under the area Marketing, customers and branding.

09.45 Getting the most from existing and new sales channels

• Best Practice examples of distribution strategy
• Having a sound distribution strategy
• Dealing with different traveller tribes

Speaker: Mr Philip Martin, Head of Marketing, Amadeus Rail

Europe’s railways have a bright future as their strengths – in relation to environmental impact, speed and ease of use – are increasingly valuable commodities to both politicians and customers. However, with deregulation around the corner, it will ensure that operators cannot afford to be complacent. The 14th annual “The Future of European Rail” is the ideal opportunity to harvest the information and discuss ideas which will create winning strategies.

Agenda:

On day 2:

Philip Martin, Head of Marketing Amadeus Rail, spoke on:

"Building the total trip experience" and taking a look at distribuion and IT strategies.

this included:

Assessing the competition examining airlines’ distribution and IT strategies. How influential are improved business systems in running successful international services? Examining strategies for improving distribution: What options do operators have? Good distribution and increased modal share: estimating the potential of changed strategies.

Mr. Martin will also be involved in the panel discussion,Increasing Rail’s Modal Share (12.15 a.m.)

CountryLink Australia will pioneer the new version through their call centre and B2C online distribution channel

Madrid, Spain, 17 February, 2009 – Amadeus, the leading provider of technology to the travel and tourism industry, has launched the latest version of Amadeus Rail's IT solution that provides rail operators with the technology to manage reservations, inventory, scheduling, seating, pricing and ticketing operations. The new version, initiated and being implemented by the Australian railway carrier CountryLink, sets a new standard for rail operators and is the result of Amadeus investment in IT products for rail.

Read more...

From the passengers perspective time can be saved, especially if the feeder airline isn’t interlined with the long haul connection.  Furthermore the additional comfort that a journey by rail offers is a welcome luxury for the modern day traveller. Another thing to consider as I so frequently hear from my snow bound family at home in the UK is that it’s important to consider the effects of our carbon footprint on the world (I too can testify to believing this after witnessing snow on the Côte d’Azur) – travelling by rail can help reduce this – especially where short haul flights are the competition.

It might sound bizarre but the airlines themselves can (if marketed and utilised effectively) benefit from these links. They can set up interlining agreements – much in the way that Lufthansa and Deutsche Bahn have already. Moreover in the current environmental climate it is advantageous for brands to appear “green friendly” and being seen to promote high-speed rail can only assist the company in building its brand to meet this criterion.

The final major stakeholder is the actual airport and their major gain from this is the ability to maintain (if not increase) passenger levels yet reduce (or maintain) air traffic. Such a plan for the expansion of London Heathrow was put forward over the summer, where instead of building a 3rd runway, Heathrow would be linked to major UK cities by a high speed link. (A variation of this plan has now been accepted.) And of course we shouldn’t forget those excess foreign currency inhaling Duty Free Shops…If passengers are willing to use a certain airport for their long haul flight due to the airports rail link then surely the airport will witness increased revenues the Terminal Duty Free Shops?  

The website responsibletravel has asked a panel to book return rail and air tickets from the UK to Barcelona, Rome, Brussels and Munich on the internet and found that despite 98% of the participants being able make bookings with airlines only 33% were successful in acquiring rail tickets…and those that did manage to book the train took twice as long to do so.

Read the article here.

The need for European Railways to develop a common reservation platform is an old debate; however as we witness the expansion of Europe's high speed rail network and see the European Union leading the campaign for greener travel, we may see increased demand for international rail and therefore it is imperative that we in the industry look to provide a common standard to afford travel agencies, travel management companies and even the general public a simpler booking process.

Had this been a high speed train then the 200km journey could have been done in only 54 minutes, equivalent to that of a TGV between Le Mans and Paris (an equivalent distance).

Maybe not enough time for the President to review the speech in full, but showing how high speed can deliver an extremely competitive journey time door to door compared to the 54 minutes it takes for airlines to fly airport to airport between Philadelphia and Washington. Plus at over 250 km/h it may have been difficult to wave to the masses en route to Washington.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/05/new-hopes-ride-on-rail-travel/

So to start with, just a brief description of what deregulation is:

On the 3rd March 2004 the European Commission introduced the third Railway Package. This included a main item - International passenger rail services will be opened up to competition as of 1st January 2010.

 This basically means that railways will now be able to operate outside of their home country meaning that you will have a choice when travelling from one country to another, with competition over some key city pairs.

 This could mean an acceleration of the high speed track construction which could threaten some airline routes between major city pairs (we know and see this already e.g. LON/PAR). It could also mean more strategic alliances between different modes of transport as well as railways. We could start to see a new distribution standard for ticketing and through booking. It could also open up new markets in Eastern Europe.

 As we move into a new era of travel in Europe, whatever the outcome, maybe a quote from Charles Darwin may help us along “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, or the most intelligent. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”