Sabre Travel Network said it planned to make Evolvi, the leading rail booking product developed by Orpington-based Harry Weeks Travel, available to Sabre Connected travel agencies in the UK. Sabre is the first global distribution system (GDS) to make the product available to the trade.

Agencies booking through Evolvi will earn 9 percent commission on rail sales. A link from the Internet-based MySabre booking product will take agents directly to Evolvi’s booking screen and all bookings will automatically be incorporated in the Sabre PNR (Passenger Name Record) generated by the travel agency, allowing for seamless back office integration. Evolvi will also be available to all members of the Advantage Business Travel Focus Group using the Turbo Sabre system.

Evolvi is a rail solution provided by a travel agency for travel agencies, which means it was developed with our UK agency customers’ needs in mind,” said Reet Wiseman, Sabre Travel Network’s vice president for the UK and Ireland. It’s an easy to use, profitable and simple tool that will allow agencies to further enhance their customer service. We are pleased to offer it to the UK market now, as we work to provide an even more extensive and integrated rail offering.”

The deal is part of Sabre Travel Network’s drive to expand the range of bookable products in its system.

Grahame Weeks, Harry Weeks Travel’s managing director, said Sabre Travel Network’s “innovative solutions” had made it the obvious partner for Evolvi.

“We wanted to partner with a GDS that would help us meet agency expectations,” Weeks said. “Sabre, with its leading technology and clearly-defined strategy based on a strong presence in every channel of travel distribution, ticked all the right boxes.”

“This is the latest in a fast-growing line of bookable product initiatives designed to meet changing travel agency needs,” Wiseman said. “We are already looking at other initiatives to add even more value to customers.”