WASHINGTON - As a leader in the growing popularity of booking travel services online, Amtrak’s online passenger transactions have more than doubled over the past year to 17 percent of all sales, spurred by Amtrak’s promotional offers and easy website navigation at www.amtrak.com.
The website, which underwent a complete redesign just a year ago, enables users to search for information on train routes, promotions, and the corporation, as well as the more than 500 destinations served by the national rail system.
The redesign of www.amtrak.com included the launch of a new booking system developed by leading global travel technology provider Datalex (ISE: DLE; OTC: DLEXY). With the system, Amtrak’s Internet sales have grown by more than 100 percent over the last year, and the percentage of total ticket revenue booked online – 17.3 percent in May – is significantly higher than many airlines’ websites and continues to grow.
“Our Internet sales have averaged more than 100 percent growth per year over the past five years, and we’re excited to expect more than $200 million in online bookings this year,” said Barbara J. Richardson, Amtrak’s executive vice president. “But, more importantly, we’re meeting customer expectations with a booking system that is fast, convenient, and simple to use.”
Datalex’s BookIt powers the www.amtrak.com booking system! Consumer, the travel industry’s leading Internet booking engine, and BookIt Matrix, a powerful, extensible and scalable integration platform that provides connectivity between Amtrak’s back-end inventory system and the booking engine application. The solution ensures Amtrak can meet and efficiently handle the continuing expansion of Web-based reservations without having to periodically replace its investment in technology.
“We are delighted with the success Amtrak has achieved and are encouraged by the recognition by travel industry leaders and visionaries of the strategic business role of our technology in cost management, channel distribution, and customer service,” said Neil Beck, chief executive officer of Datalex. “This is a perfect example of a first-class organization taking advantage of first-class technology.”
On www.amtrak.com, customers may use the Fast Fare Finder function to quickly search for train availability and fares without entering a user ID and password to purchase a ticket. They also have the option to create a secure travel profile of their preferences that the system will automatically refer to each time a ticket is booked online. The travel profile enables customers to book reservations more quickly because less information must be collected by the system. Users simply select the desired travel dates and train information and enter their payment information. The system also provides convenient access to train schedules and arrival and departure status.
About Amtrak
Amtrak guests enjoy satisfaction-guaranteed service in more than 500 communities in 46 states throughout a 22,000-mile route system. Amtrak offers guests America’s only high-speed rail service between Washington and Boston as well as a nationwide unconditional guest Satisfaction Guarantee. Last year, the company set all-time records for passenger ridership and overall revenue. For more information, including schedules, fares and reservations, visit Amtrak's Web site at www.amtrak.com
About Datalex Datalex is a leading provider of e-Business solutions for the global travel industry. Founded in 1985, the company is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland and maintains offices throughout the world: Europe (Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, Manchester); USA (Atlanta, Minneapolis, Petaluma); Asia-Pacific (Melbourne, Singapore). Datalex’s customers include Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Amadeus, American Express, Amtrak, California State Automobile Association, Delta Air Lines, Disney Cruise Lines, FAR&WIDE, Galileo, KLM, Lufthansa, Midway Airlines, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Saudi Arabian Airways, Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, South African Airways, SNCF, Thomas Cook, Trailfinders, Travelcare and Unisys. Datalex also is a strategic partner with Worldspan. Datalex is a publicly held company (ISE: DLE; OTC: DLEXY). For more information, please visit the company's Web site at www.datalex.com.
