According to the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, the transport sector accounts for 30% of total greenhouse gas emissions in Spain, the vast majority of which come from road transport. Faced with this problem, the modal shift to rail, which is the most sustainable means of passenger transport, represents a fundamental element in achieving the objectives of decarbonising mobility.
In a context of rail liberalisation where users have more travel options, digital ticketing platforms play an essential role in encouraging the shift to rail. They provide users with access to all the available offer in an aggregated, accessible and transparent way in a single interface. In addition, they effectively make new carriers more visible, which fosters open competition and its positive impact on prices and services.
This is reflected in studies on the impact of digital ticketing platforms by Charles River Associates (CRA) and Financial Analysts International (AFI), which show how these platforms have a direct effect on attracting new users to rail and reducing CO2 emissions in transport.
Main findings of the studies
1 million
train journeys, equivalent to 13% of user growth on liberalized high-speed rail network in the last year, were generated by independent digital ticketing platforms.
Encourage more people to take the train for their journeys
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Digital ticketing platforms promote rail use. They drive the positive dynamics of network economies in the sector by acting as efficient intermediaries between users and operators, providing easy and centralised access to all travel options.*
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13% of the growth in trips on the high-speed network with competition in one year, equivalent to 1 million journeys, has taken place thanks to independent digital platforms. **
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This represents around 3% of all journeys made on liberalised high-speed corridors in Spain in the same period.**
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18% of journeys booked on Trainline are ‘incremental’. That is, they are directly linked to the platform's activity and would not have occurred otherwise.**
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Platforms encourage multimodal transport. They facilitate the connection of the train with other means of passenger transport such as the bus or the suburban network. This is essential for ‘door-to-door’ journeys, as well as for structuring the territory in rural areas, with fewer alternatives to the private vehicle.*
80%
of Trainline users state that the platform facilitates their travel planning by helping them find the best travel options at the best available price.
Bring a positive impact for users
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The aggregation and presentation of all available rail services in an orderly and easily accessible way reduces information asymmetries between consumers and operators leading to optimal and transparent travel planning for users.*
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The reduced time taken to compare and select travel options together with the possibility to purchase all tickets immediately in a single payment equates to a saving of 6 euros (according to the monetisation methodology of time savings due to lower transaction costs incurred).*
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80% of Trainline users state that the platform facilitates their travel planning by helping them find the best travel options at the best available price.**
1/2
of Trainline users who booked a journey with a new operator found out about its existence and services for the first time thanks to the platform.
Boost competition and its positive effects
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Digital ticketing platforms reduce entry barriers for new carriers by 'signaling’ their services to users in a transparent way.*
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Half of Trainline users who booked a journey with a new operator knew about their existence and services thanks to the platform.**
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This way, platforms boost competition between new and incumbent operators, as well as the benefits associated to it:*
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Ticket price reduction linked to competition has led to an increase in consumer surplus of 343 million euros.
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Since 2019, on corridors with competition (> 3 operators), average revenue per passenger has fallen by 40%; on corridors without competition, it has increased by 21%.
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A 1% fall in rail fares generates a 0.6% increase in rail demand and a 0.7% fall in air demand.
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Maximize the use of the rail network and minimize infrastructure cost.
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22.000
tons of CO2 saved in one year.
Promote sustainable travel
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Digital platforms helped the rail sector save 22,000 tons of CO2 in one year, equivalent to the annual CO2 absorption of 900,000 trees.**
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15% of Trainline users indicate that they would have travelled using another means of transport without the existence of digital ticketing platforms (86% of them would have travelled by car, 9% by plane and 5% by bus).**
*source: AFI
**source: CRA
Request CRA and AFI full reports here: public-affairs@thetrainline.com