For all the current chatter about new technology, there is an age-old travel product that is now demanding new attention.
According to Amadeus’ white paper on rail travel in Asia – Changing Tracks: Five make-or-break factors for rail travel in Asia Pacific – momentum is building. It also notes five “make-or-break factors” for rail travel in the region.
“In 2006, 18 countries signed the Trans-Asian Railway Network Agreement. Although progress has been slow, momentum is now building. In December 2016, for example, construction of the new 414km China-Laos railway commenced. In February 2017, it was reported that Thailand and Malaysia would restart talks on a proposed 1,500km high-speed rail link between Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. And, by 2026, the game-changing high-speed rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore is scheduled for completion,” it said.
The white paper picked out China as the world’s fastest growing rail market. In 2016, 2.77 billion passenger trips were taken and more than half was aboard high-speed trains. In 2017, China Railway Corp estimates that passenger numbers will increase by more than 9 percent to break the 3 billion mark. An additional 2,100 km of track is due to be added to support that increase.
Guillaume: There is huge potential for rail.
“This resurgence of rail coincides with the rapid growth and evolution of the wider Asia Pacific travel market. And there is huge potential for rail to play an even greater role in supplementing and complementing the wider travel industry,” said Pierre-Yves Guillaume, Amadeus’ head of rail, Asia Pacific.
The five factors include:
1. Capturing customers old and new
While traditional rail operators have catered to a largely captive audience in the past, operators and suppliers of rail products of the future will have to cater to a more diverse and active audience, says Amadeus. The traveller of today has more options – lift-sharing, self-driving cars, low-cost airlines and luxury coaches. Therefore, marketing and merchandising will become priority, and ticketing will need to extend beyond existing channels.
2. Make timetables, booking and data universally available
With the region’s move towards self-managed travel, travellers should be able to search and book their flight, hotel and train ticket at the same time, from the same place. However, currently, rail is not as visible to travellers. “The integration of rail content in GDSs is a crucial step to making this a reality,” says Amadeus.
Amadeus urges operators in Asia to consider Europe as a model – there, the industry is being encouraged to open up and collaborate to benefit the traveller. True multi-channel, multi-modal, multi-country propositions are emerging, it adds.
3. Mobile is a must
As one of the most tech-savvy regions of the world, rail operators here must take a mobile-first approach to passenger engagement. “The end-state is that everyone will expect to do everything by mobile. They’ll expect seamless connectivity between different transport modes. They’ll expect real-time algorithmic capability to plan and track and adjust their journey,” Sim Howe Chai, managing director of Accenture’s APAC Rail and Transit Industry was quoted as saying.
4. Complement, cooperate and compete
Rail operators will fulfil many new roles as travel choices proliferate. As they do, they may be called on to occasionally complement, other times cooperate and yet other times, compete with other transport modes. They may feed passengers to and from other modes of transport; they may sometimes take entire legs of a journey; and sometimes they will compete head to head as a primary player.
5. Make payment easy
Rail operators should be ready to embrace new ways to pay, suggests Amadeus. Embedded payments like those used by Uber and Grab and Airbnb should be considered. In the U.K.,Transport for London across all the city’s train, tube and bus networks will begin use of contactless bank cards and mobile payments this year.
