How can we maximise rail's economic, environmental and social benefits?

Last week Champa Magesh, President of Trainline Partner Solutions, spoke at a fascinating Rail Industry Association event to launch a new report by Oxford Economics?examining the economic, environmental and social benefits of rail.

The report underlined the striking positive outcomes that rail can deliver. Public transport generates around ￡1.4bn in time saving benefits every year by reducing congestion in the UK’s six largest cities alone – and we could generate a further ￡115m in healthcare cost savings by encouraging active travel in the same six cities.

And of course the report reinforced the incredible environmental advantage rail offers over car or air travel – while rail accounts for 9.5% of total passenger kms in the UK, it creates only 1.5% of transport’s domestic CO2 emissions. We passionately believe more can be done to showcase this to the public, so we have initiated a movement and campaign – I Came By Train – to encourage people to swap a journey to rail and travel more sustainably.

Getting people to swap car journeys or domestic flights to rail is about changing habits. While infrastructure investment and fares reform can undoubtedly help modal shift in the long run, we need to leverage the power of third-party retailing and distribution to make gains in modal shift in the short term.?

Champa broke down the challenge of changing these travel habits into three key elements. First we need to build the awareness of our product among potential customers. Take for example the green benefits of rail, which are a huge potential plus point – particularly among younger travellers. But while consumers are increasingly aware of, and persuaded by, green considerations, they are less aware of rail’s advantages.

We recently commissioned research which found 61% of Brits believe they have a responsibility to live a sustainable lifestyle – and yet only 17% were aware that switching one long-distance car or plan journey to rail would significantly benefit the environment. As an industry, we should do everything we can to address that lack of awareness.

Next comes increasing the consideration of rail – and that means reaching potential customers at their decision-making point.?

This is where extending rail’s online reach matters most. At-station sales remain a key element of the industry’s ticketing offer, but only digital retailing can reach customers while they are sat on their sofa contemplating an upcoming journey, browsing their options and weighing up whether to drive or take the train.?

The final step to maximising ticket sales is conversion, which means selling the journey and the multiple advantages of rail: arriving direct into the city centre with no stress of traffic or parking, providing reliable travel information pre-journey (and strong after-sales care if needed post-journey), the improved productivity rail offers to business travellers, or the simple luxury of down-time (or nap time) during the journey that driving can’t provide.?

And with the UK’s eco-system of multiple ticketing retailers, that means there are multiple businesses advertising rail, and generally promoting the concept of taking the train – all of which helps tip the decision in rail’s favour, and makes the case for taking the train more compelling.

This thriving retail sector offers scope for private sector investment and innovation, focused on attracting more customers and improving their experience – and the entire industry can leverage the benefits from this investment and innovation. Retailing is simply the customer’s first step on their journey with the rail industry – and it’s a journey that delivers huge economic, environmental and social benefits; a journey that we all want to support.