Virgin Trains Ticketing and SilverRail deepens partnership to provide customers with cheaper fares and more flexible travel options

Virgin Trains Ticketing has deepened its partnership with the rail commerce platform, SilverRail, to ensure its customers get the best rail fares possible.

The independent retailer has integrated SilverRail’s new ‘Conversion Plus’ toolset, which includes a ‘Gen 2’ split ticketing functionality and a ‘Cheaper Routes’ option for passengers with more flexible schedules who are happy to take indirect journeys and travel for longer if it means securing a cheaper ticket.

Virgin Trains Ticketing has been operating since 2021 and has saved passengers nearly £2 million on their train tickets in the past 18 months through a combination of split ticketing and enabling customers to buy train tickets using Virgin Points. Virgin Points can be earned and spent on train tickets through Virgin Trains Ticketing, as well as hundreds of other retailers and rewards through Virgin Red, Virgin’s Group-wide rewards club.

Using some of the most travelled routes as an example, the new technology means that customers can now save up to 78% on their tickets by booking through Virgin Trains Ticketing, with cheaper, indirect journeys now showing as an option on a third of searches for peak morning departures*.

Examples

London to Stockport to London (indirect via Crewe) £26.20, arriving at 11:26am versus £117.70 on a direct train with an arrival time of 09:09am. That’s a 78% saving.

Wilmslow to London (indirect via Crewe) £48.00 arriving at 10:24 am versus £144.40 on a direct train with an arrival time of 9:35am. That’s a 67% saving.

Derby to London (indirect via Tamworth) £55.70 arriving at 10:24am versus £93.80 on a direct train with the closest arrival time of 9:25am. That’s a 40% saving.

Example for passengers with a flexible departure station

London to Bath (indirect via Warminster) departing from London Waterloo arriving at 10:27am £44.40 versus £79.80 on a direct train departing from London Paddington with the closest arrival time of 09:18. That’s a 44% saving.

Mark Plowright, Director at Virgin Trains Ticketing, said,

“We all know that the UK needs a simpler rail fares system and split ticketing is a sticking plaster rather than a long-term solution. That said, while we wait for fares reform, Virgin Trains Ticketing will continue to innovate and find new ways to help customers navigate fares and get more value from their train journeys. Adopting SilverRail’s latest toolset means we can broaden the view of available fares and travel options, giving passengers more choice and helping them to save money, as well as rewarding them with Virgin Points on every journey.”

Customers can also get double points on all journeys booked through Virgin Trains Ticketing until 15th December 2024.

SilverRail provides companies like Virgin Trains Ticketing, LNER, Chiltern, National Rail Enquiries and Transport for Wales with a simple and cost-effective journey planning, rail booking, ticketing, and after-sales platform.

This is the first time SilverRail has provided these indirect journey tools to a retailer selling rail tickets across Great Britain.

Cameron Jones, Chief Commercial Officer at SilverRail said:

“The Virgin brand is synonymous with market-leading customer service and innovation and we have certainly seen this first-hand through our partnership with Virgin Trains Ticketing during the past three years with their loyalty offerings and low fares, supported by our split ticketing innovations. Today, we’re excited to see Virgin Trains Ticketing deploy more of our Conversion Plus tools with Cheaper Routes, which, combined with our Gen 2 split ticketing functionality, has seen price savings of up to 78% compared to direct journeys”.

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*On Friday 6 December 2024, 40 key routes were searched for departures leaving at 0700 on Tuesday 12 December. The first five journey options displayed were compared. Customers were shown cheaper, indirect journey options 37% of the time and VTT matched the market 60% of the time. The average cost saving is 21% and can be as high as 78% on some journeys.