Digitization of Rail Transport Enables Seamless Journeys for Europe’s Passengers

Just like consumers now expect to be able to book a single journey with multiple airlines in one transaction, rail booking platforms like Trainline and Omio have become essential tools for Europe’s rail travelers who don’t fancy navigating multiple train booking systems to purchase tickets.

And like modern air travel, these platforms are enabling passengers to store their tickets on their mobile devices rather than having to carry paper travel passes.

In the U.K., for instance, Trainline also allows people to store any discount cards they have on the app alongside their tickets, while another local online platform, Train Frog, allows passengers to bid for first-class upgrades on purchased tickets, regardless of the original seller.

Digital Platforms Enable Smarter Travel

As e-tickets become increasingly normalized, some European transport authorities are phasing out paper tickets entirely. In Paris, for example, 122 years after the first one was issued, the city is finally getting rid of paper metro passes as it moves toward a fully contactless ticketing system.

Meanwhile, the Mayor of London has said that paper tickets account for just 10% of all journeys on the city’s metro system.

What’s more, analysis by Transport for London (TfL) shows that more than a third of all adult contactless pay-as-you-go journeys on the Tube are now made using a mobile device.

For foreigners arriving in London, boarding a train, bus, boat, cable car or tram is as easy as tapping any contactless payment card or device on a reader.

Thanks to the ease with which passengers can pay for their journeys, direct payments with card or mobile now account for 71% of all contactless pay-as-you-go journeys across the TfL network, with the other 29% made using the prepaid card system. The success of the scheme has inspired transport authorities in New York, Chicago and Sydney to replicate the system in those cities.

With more frictionless ticketing increasingly the norm, some booking platforms have taken it up a notch and evolved into a one-stop shop of European transport.

Germany’s Omio can now be used to book a range of train, coach, plane and ferry journeys from Europe’s main operators, with tickets all available digitally through the Omio app.

Related: Omio Raises $100M For Expansion Of Travel Booking App

It’s this kind of integrated approach to booking and paying for a variety of journeys that Uber is now pursuing in its attempts to become the world’s transport super app.

The firm announced this month that Uber Travel is expanding to 10,000-plus cities worldwide, enabling customers to use the Uber app to book a range of transport types, including intercity train journeys.

Learn more: Uber Travel Expands to 10,000+ Cities

For all PYMNTS EMEA coverage, subscribe to the daily EMEA Newsletter