IT service provider Atos Origin is using its expertise in transactional based services to launch a service direct to consumers offering train tickets and a travel loyalty scheme.
The website redspottedhanky.com is Atos' first business-to-consumer (B2C) service. The service will cut costs for rail companies by offering a pay-as-you-use model.
The supplier's Avantix web ticket issuing system is already used by train companies such as Chiltern Railways and East Coast Trains.
Rail companies will not have to pay for the new service by taking it in-house. They will only pay a commission when a sale is made.This contrasts with hosting systems in-house with related IT costs.
Atos is not planning to compete with its train customers but rather generate more ticket sales through the system and the introduction of a loyalty scheme.
Ursula Morgenstern, head of private sector UK at Atos Origin, said it gives customers another avenue to buy tickets. "The aim is not to compete with other sites but to drive revenue in the rail industry.
"The new thing we are doing is we are going directly to the end-user to generate sales for our customers."
The loyalty scheme, for example, could drive more business for rail companies, like it does for airline.
