…
The French National Railway (SNCF) and Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, announced that they have strengthened their 16-year partnership as SNCF becomes the launch customer for Amadeus Agent Track, a state-of-the-art rail booking solution for travel agents. Amadeus and SNCF have also agreed to an extension of their full content agreement, which will now run to the end of 2012.
Amadeus Agent Track enables agents to access the rail company’s schedules and inventory, providing a ‘single view’ of fares and availability on a single screen. A graphical user interface makes it easy-to-use, improving agent productivity. The solution will allow SNCF to have full integration with the travel agent’s back office systems and will help them to drive sales in the indirect channel.
Using the Amadeus solution, full content for SNCF can be accessed by all SNCF-accredited travel agents in France and to Rail Europe-accredited agents in Europe. These travel sellers have access to all SNCF fares, origins and destinations, and products, including services on Eurostar, Thalys, and Lyria, among others. SNCF full content is also available to online travel agencies using Amadeus Web Services track.
“We are delighted to mark 16 years of partnership with SNCF, one of the world’s leading rail companies, and pleased to look to the future together with this extension to our agreement. SNCF’s pioneering approach is demonstrated by its position as launch customer for Amadeus Agent Track. This is part of Amadeus Total Rail, a unique concept that is helping rail companies to meet the challenges of a rapidly-evolving industry, both from a distribution and an operational point of view,” said Thomas Drexler, director of Rail, Amadeus.
“It is essential that travel agents throughout Europe are able to offer their customers access to all SNCF products and fares. Our partnership with Amadeus has further enhanced our operational readiness for the new age of international rail,” said Valerie Assayag, Directrice des Ventes Agences de Voyages et Entreprises, SNCF.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
