Steam trains run on a tight budget, yet at the same time tourists expect major transit company and premium tourist destination customer service. With limited volunteers, minimal technology resources and many other things vying for scarce finances there is often a gap.
The solution to this gap is to use software that has been designed with steam train and heritage travel in mind. AddTransit understands the challenges of passengers all arriving for the first trips of the day, with minimal travellers at the end. AddTransit understands the need for customer service, while recognising that volunteer training must be kept to a minimum. AddTransit helps you deliver great customer service, enables you to offer online ticketing, bookings and sales, making it easier for you to focus on preserving our heritage for tomorrow.
Customers want to know if there are changes to your service and with steam trains and heritage vehicles there can often be changes. Often steam trains don't run if there is a risk of fires, alternative services are offered in the case of mechanical failures and many services have special events at regular times throughout the year.
Providing real time status updates enables passengers to see what is happening with your services, whether they are running late or if something different is happening to normal. Real Time Status is part of giving customers great service, as your passengers are your best ambassadors and it makes sense to keep them informed.
Online ticketing, bookings and sales is now a standard expectation by your customers. They realise you are a heritage destination, but they want to lock in their plans, ensure their booking and focus on the fun of the trip.
For most steam train and heritage vehicle operators selling tickets online has been just too complex and expensive. Custom built ticketing and payment software or websites and now mobile phone apps are very expensive and event ticketing software doesn't cater for the unique needs of multiple stops/stations. AddTransit has been built with steam trains in mind and uses the internationally recognised GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification) as the backbone for managing routes and schedules. We make selling your standard, concession, party and premium fares easy. Passengers enjoy the convenience of being able to purchase 24x7, allowing your limited ticket sales team the time to focus on other high priority areas.
A challenge for steam trains is the variation in passenger numbers throughout the running days. Online ticketing allows you to encourage passengers to take less busy trips. It can also give you a heads up that there could be a capacity constraint issues so you can plan when you need to attach an additional carriage prior.
