Amadeus Makes Rail Travel More Accessible

A new business model proposed by Amadeus provides travel agencies around the world with one link to sell multiple railways, bypassing the need for one-to-one commercial relationships between both parties.

Currently the full offers of DB (German), RENFE (Spanish), SNCF (French, available in CESE only), Trenitalia (Italian) and select eastern European rail operators are available as part of this model, with more expected to join soon.

Amadeus acts as the sales agent for rail operators to simplify contractual agreements, financial flows and invoicing with travel agencies. This will mean reduced costs for railways as Amadeus takes care of all setup, billing and settlement activities, and assumes financial and legal risks of selling via travel agencies. The model will enable railways to reach new travellers in new markets as Amadeus takes care of promoting their offer to travel agencies too.

“Rail travel today is still largely domestic but this will soon change – our merchant model marks the beginning of a new era, giving the industry what it needs to take a global leap, and unlock growth. For travel agencies this will mean a convenient gateway to leading rail content that will serve to enrich their overall offer,” said Antoine de Kerviler, Global Head of Rail & Ground Travel at Amadeus.

Foreign travellers can conveniently book rail travel through their travel agency before flying and have their entire trip – including air, hotel and rail – on the same itinerary.

“I am confident that rail will be on the radar of many more travellers now and as it becomes more and more accessible to them – just imagine booking rail the same way as air, all integrated in a single itinerary – it will get the attention it deserves. We look forward to adding more rail operators across all continents in the coming months,” added Antoine. 

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