TransPennine Express (TPE) is taking businesses further after introducing a new tool to give small and medium companies a better way to make rail bookings. TransPennine Express Business, an online portal launched by the rail operator, allows companies to book rail travel 24 hours a day, providing the lowest fares and a tailored reporting package to help keep an eye on overall spend.
Jill Bollard, Business Account Manager at TPE, said: “We are fully aware of the part we play in connecting businesses across the North, into Scotland, and beyond. Our aim was always to deliver something for small and medium businesses that provided the best possible deals, alongside a portal that helped give greater control and visibility of expenditure. Through TransPennine Express Business companies can add authorised users, allowing them to book tickets at thresholds set by the business – with the capability to restrict the class of travel, outline the reason for travel and even assign bookings to a cost centre.”
Jill added: “We understand the needs of businesses in our region and have designed TransPennine Express Business to reflect and meet those needs. We’ve also worked hard to make payments as easy as possible and users can pay direct by credit or debit card or, subject to credit checks, can also be invoiced for their travel bookings.”
By taking the train employees can use the trains as a mobile office environment as TPE’s modern trains offer tables, plugs and USB power sockets as well as free Wi-FI – and there’s the added benefit of dodging busy city centre traffic. Train journeys reduce carbon emissions by 77 per cent compared to taking the car.* – and businesses will be able to compare emissions data for rail vs car (petrol & diesel) by using their account. Since 2019/20, TPE has reduced its total impact by 15% and the operator’s Nova train fleet, which includes bi-mode and electric trains, has helped to improve carbon impact per vehicle kilometre travelled by 17% since this time.
Jill commented: “At TPE, we are committed to having a positive impact on the environment – and we want to help businesses across the North of England and Scotland to do the same. Taking the train is a better, more environmentally friendly way to travel and we have developed a feature that will allow businesses to track and compare rail journey emissions to those produced by road vehicles. This will help companies realise the more sustainable benefits to travelling with us, and champion rail as a green means of travel.”
To set up an account or ask us any questions please email Jill Bollard, Business Account Manager, TPE on business@tpexpress.co.uk or phone 07773 122978
tpexpress.co.uk/business
*Carbon emission based on CO2e per vehicle km against the 2014 baseline of 1.39 kg/vkm, 30% reduction by 1 April 2023. Comparison based on TPE data across all fleet for FY19/20 compared to single occupancy average car data published by the Government Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2020.
