Trainline transforms customer experience with PlatformOne
Mindera drives Europe’s leading train booking operator forward with seamless digital platform rollout.
Photography: Mariusz Zając, Pexels
From the start, it was clear that our shared cultural values and Mindera’s emphasis on high-quality work, would give us a headstart. The Mindera team quickly became an extension of the Trainline team, frequently travelling between its hub in Bangalore and Trainline’s UK headquarters.
Trainline
The challenge
In response to increased demand for more efficient and reliable customer services, and specifically, the need to provide a fully scalable and available service to Train Operating Companies (TOCs), Trainline developed the appropriately named PlatformOne. The goal was to create an industry-leading technology platform to power ticket retailing for itself and the multiple TOCs that rely on its retail and technical capabilities, as well as B2B agreements across the UK and Europe.
The final, and arguably the most critical, part of the project was the successful rollout of PlatformOne. This involved migrating all TOCs to the new platform within an ambitious timescale. And it was no simple task, particularly as it would be the single biggest project ever undertaken by Trailine’s rail technology solutions team, Trainline Partner Solutions (TPS). With this firmly in mind, Trainline appointed its trusted software development partner Mindera to undertake the work.
The solution
Over a period of 18 months Mindera’s dedicated software engineering team were integral partners to the TPS team in building PlatformOne and migrating the TOCs and their products – many of which operated on legacy solutions – onto the new platform.
The team in London began the project by first ensuring the Trainline desktop was responsive before any white labelling began. Following this, they then started migrating the old white-label solutions for season tickets followed by point-to-point ticket sales.
Through a carefully crafted and collaborative approach, we ensured there was no disturbance to end users. All clients were migrated successfully, on time and to the agreed budget of the project. The booking experience looked the same throughout, with all previous versions of tickets still valid.
The results
With PlatformOne up and running across Trainline’s stakeholder ecosystem, TOCs quickly saw an increase in their monthly active customers via the platform, which can be scaled as demand rises and also support the shift towards mobile app usage.
Providing access to the extensive features set of PlatformOne has also proved particularly popular. With the system including customisable elements tailored to specific needs, TOCs are better positioned to address common industry issues such as disruption. This positive experience has led to longer-term contracts with clients, a key lever of success for Trainline.
Ultimately, the migration benefits members for the public have been numerous. Travel customers are seeking an ever more frictionless user experience and to explore the UK and Europe by train. Enhancements such as app notifications for TOCs and the ability to split fares means Trainline is now better positioned to meet customer demands, even during the busiest periods or industry disruption. The result is that the average TOC app rating has jumped from 2.9 (out of 5) to 4.5.
About Trainline
Europe’s leading train and coach booking operator, Trainline processes 300 searches a minute and over 100 million visits a month. Mindera has been working with Trainline’s rail technology solutions team, Trainline Partner Solutions, for over five years.