France-based startup Capitaine Train intends to give users who book their train tickets online and on their phone with a smoother, more efficient experience, TechCrunch reported.
Capitaine Train Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jean-Daniel Guyot told TechCrunch in an interview, "We want our clients to leave the site as soon as possible." This means giving customers with a quicker, hassle-free and wonderful ticket booking experience. However, the process to get the startup where it is now has been far from smooth. Capitaine Train had to convince big firms to talk to them, the report said.
The business climate in France from 2002 to 2009 was not in favor of competition. SNCF, the country's main railway firm, was found to have placed online travel agencies at a disadvantage in favor of its own companies, namely Voyages-SNCF and Expedia. Capitaine Traine launched three days after the sentence was handed out, the report said.
The startup didn't want to just be another travel firm although it was given the license to operate as such. What it really wanted was to get the same direct access as SNCF to the ticket reservation system. It took over a year of challenging negotiations and a public uproar but SNCF finally gave the startup what they asked for-access to the reservation system, the report said.
Capitaine Train proceeded to make its growth plans a reality, even if progress was slow. It inked an agreement with Deutsche Bahn and other European railway firms. It also secured funding amounting to $3.2 million and rolled out an iPhone app that also aims to give users the same streamlined experience they would get on the site.
Capitaine Train now has 170,000 users, where 70% of those who bought their tickets are slated to make another purchase in the next twelve months, the report said. They are currently strategizing to tap into the 50% of the market who currently purchase tickets offline still.
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