Train Swap - providing user friendly service switching and flexible seat reservation

最近一项针对铁路乘客的调查发现，10名受访者中有8人希望铁路票价进行彻底改革，考虑到填补空位、旅行的灵活性或混合和匹配不同类型的车票。目前乘客可以使用的方法包括换票（例如提前购票者），可以在车站或通过列车运营商的应用程序（如果以这种方式购买原始票）进行换票，或者购买后座位预订（例如随时购票者）-十分钟预订-仅适用于两个列车运营商。没有一种组合解决方案可以为乘客提供单一联系点，访问多个列车运营商，以进行所有票务交换和座位预订决策。此外，换票往往附加很高的价格，这使可能能够换票的乘客无法这样做。这导致了站台繁忙，以及相关的乘客压力，并且没有动力离开高占用服务。该项目旨在提供第一种解决方案来解决这些问题。Seatfrog Train Swap将允许乘客快速远程更新他们的座位预订到新的服务。Seatfrog开发了一个基于固定费用模型的独立原型，以测试用户的兴趣。Seatfrog正在与LNER合作，整合和试用这项技术。该项目将在经过验证的概念基础上发展，以交付和集成关键组件，从而获得运营商和乘客的市场认可。原始机票验证必须是无缝的、准确的、用户友好的和可访问的。定价必须反映运营商的需求，并为乘客提供更具成本效益的选择，以鼓励转换。应将列车交换率传达给运营商，以实现最大效益。除了LNER的参与，持续的乘客参与将为项目决策提供信息，以确保项目结束时整个价值链的接受。该项目将最终在现场试验，以验证和验证列车交换演示。Seatfrog已经与四家运营商实施了他们之前的升级招标解决方案，覆盖了近50%的英国火车交换市场。通过这条既定的市场路线，Seatfrog预计将在多个铁路网络中快速推出。

A recent survey of rail passengers found 8 out of 10 respondents wanted rail fares to be overhauled with consideration for filling empty seats, flexibility of travel, or mixing and matching types of tickets. Current approaches available to passengers either involve ticketing exchange (for example for Advance ticket holders), which is available at stations or via a train operators’ app if the original was purchased in this way, or post-purchase seat reservation (for example for Anytime ticket holders) – ten-minute reservation - only available with two train operators. There is no combined solution which offers passengers a single point of contact, accessing multiple train operators, for all ticketing exchange and seat reservation decisions. In addition, ticket exchange often has a high price attached which prevents passengers who may be able to switch from doing so. This contributes to platform busyness, with associated passenger stress, and offers no incentive to move away from high occupancy services. This project aims to deliver a first of a kind solution to address these issues. Seatfrog Train Swap will allow passengers to quickly and remotely update their seat reservation to a new service. Seatfrog have developed a standalone prototype based on a fixed fee model to test user interest. Seatfrog are working with LNER to integrate and trial this technology. The project will develop on the proven concept to deliver and integrate components critical to achieve market acceptance from both Operators’ and passengers. Original ticket validation must be seamless, accurate, user-friendly and accessible. Pricing must reflect the needs of operators as well as offering more cost-effective options to passengers to encourage switching. Train Swap uptake should be communicated to Operators’ to allow for maximum benefit to be achieved. Alongside LNER involvement, ongoing passenger engagement will inform project decision-making to ensure acceptance across the value chain by project close. The project will culminate in a live trial to validate and verify the Train Swap demonstrator. Seatfrog have implemented their previous Upgrade-Bidding solution with four Operators’, covering almost 50% of the available UK market for Train Swap. With this established route to market, Seatfrog anticipate rapid roll-out across multiple rail networks.