Trainline's new API wants to take the pain out of your business trip

Trainline is trying to solve the headache of international business travel by releasing an API designed to make it easier to organise business trips.

The API, live now for Trainline for Business customers, hooks in railway timetables from rail companies operating across Europe, enabling users to book all their journeys through one interface.

"International rail is complex, as services often need to be sourced from multiple suppliers, all with different technology standards and specifications," Alidad Moghaddam, European director of Trainline for Business, told IT Pro. "This makes procuring rail content on a global scale a time-consuming, resource-intensive and costly process."

He added: "The international API ... makes the integration of rail content more intuitive and simple. With complexity reduced, more travellers and businesses are likely to opt for rail over air journeys to reduce costs, decrease their carbon footprint and boost productivity on short trips."

Starting with 87 train companies across 24 countries, the API will add more areas and companies as it grows, allowing customers to access all this data via single interfaces from partnering travel management companies, online booking tools, and digital travel agencies.

Travel Planet has integrated the API into its own service already, launching it to customers soon. CEO Tristan Dessain-Gelinet said: "Thanks to the technology behind Trainline's international API, Travel Planet will be able to expand its offer in its 'Click&Control' platform and allow travellers to access rail providers throughout Europe. This is a big step forward for European train travel."

Trainline for Business has more than 20,000 customers, from enterprises to travel management firms and SMBs who use its platform.

The API is the latest innovation from the British tech firm, which recently announced predictive analytics to warn customers when their train fare will spike, and a chatbot that crowdsources passenger data to identify vacant seats for commuters.

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