SITA and Amtrak today announced an agreement to extend their business partnership to the provision of Quik-Trak self-service ticketing kiosks at 80 train stations across the United States.The initial plan calls for implementation of 177 Quik-Trak kiosks, each

with state-of-the-art features designed to allow easy use by all Amtrak

customers,  including those with disabilities.  Amtrak plans to add more

kiosks in the coming years according to demand.

The Quik-Trak kiosks will feature a browser-based reservation and ticketing

application that uses SITA INC’s iTravelDirect product. Amtrak also employs

this product on its web site, www.amtrak.com. Having a common IT platform

for both web site and kiosks,  will allow Amtrak to provide consistent

customer service while lowering its long-term IT costs.

Since adopting SITA INC’s iTravelDirect product, Amtrak.com’s share of

online ticket sales has increased by nearly 6 percentage points, up from

28.4%  to 34.3%. Amtrak.com is now Amtrak’s most successful booking channel

in terms of total passenger sales.  At the same time, costly customer

inquiries have dropped by 15%.

 

Use of SITA INC’s technology has allowed for the addition of new

functionality and capacity to the web site. Enhancements include improved

booking of sleeping accommodations, up-front pricing views, and integration

of Amtrak’s ticket reservation and content management systems.

 

“We are delighted with the outcome, ” says Kathleen Gordon, Amtrak’s Senior

Director of e-Commerce.  “This solution greatly enhances the quality of

service, improves ease-of-use, and increases flexibility for our customers.

It also makes it much easier to manage the system internally. Our new

system allows us to make changes as needed, rather than having to rely on

an external vendor.”

 

“We partnered with SITA to ensure that our online reservation system is as

simple to use and as customer-friendly as possible - and SITA has more than

met these expectations”  says Barbara Richardson,  Amtrak’s Senior Vice

President of Sales and Marketing.

 

“SITA delivered its solution on time and to cost, and we are already seeing

the benefits.  By selecting SITA to provide Quik-Trak self-service ticket

kiosks we are confident that they will again meet our expectations. The new

Quik-Trak kiosks will allow Amtrak to provide better and more consistent

customer service to all our customers, including persons with disabilities,

while at the same time lowering Amtrak’s distribution and IT costs,” she

added.

 

SITA INC also provides online booking engines and self-service ticket

kiosks to airlines and has successfully implemented booking solutions for

rail companies in other countries, including Via Rail Canada and Eurostar

in the UK and France.  SITA also created Amtrak’s first online-booking

engine in the mid-nineties.

Richard Stokes, Senior Vice President, Passenger and Travel Solutions, SITA

INC,  says:  “We are delighted to be working with Amtrak again to provide

software for its Quik-Trak   self-service ticket kiosks, building on our

recent   success   in   enhancing   Amtrak’s   online reservation system.

iTravelDirect offers the ultimate in flexibility,  because it can be

configured to suit each customer’s needs. Another advantage is that booking

and content are closely integrated, which gives even greater flexibility

and provides added customer satisfaction.”

 

“The new Quik-Trak self-service ticket kiosks and enhanced online booking

service will certainly help us meet our corporate goals,”  Kathleen Gordon

adds,  “and primary among those is to provide the best possible service to

our customers.”

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