With the majority of the UK’s workforce back in the office and steadily returning to some form of normality, West Midlands Trains – operator of West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway – has launched a brand-new, free to use online service to help companies simplify booking their train travel.
The new service, called Just Business, is aimed at business travellers who are required to travel for work and get back to those face-to-face meetings – with over a third of London office workers already back to pre-Covid working routines (1).
The service consolidates and simplifies the train booking process, whilst helping customers find the cheapest and lowest fares available for their journeys on any train route across the UK.
Businesses that sign up to the service are given a unique login for each member of staff so they can individually search for, book, and pay for their tickets through the platform. The service also allows companies to set bespoke rules and preferences to determine what tickets employees have permission to book, along with spending caps.
With employees using the same platform, all company train travel expenses are in one handy central place, helping office and finance managers to easily manage and keep track of costs. It also provides useful and efficient general reporting tools, as well as enabling businesses to keep track of how sustainable their travel needs are.
Purchasing tickets through the service means business travellers can avoid the booking fees added to train ticket comparison websites.
Tim Bullock, sales and partnerships manager at West Midlands Trains, comments: “From misplaced receipts and credit cards, to scouring the internet for the best deals, booking train travel in the workplace can be unnecessarily timely and costly. For employees, Just Business instantly shows the cheapest fares across all operators as well as a handy payment system removing the need to process expenses spending your own money.
“For a business, this service is free, quick and simple to set up and has a dedicated helpline for additional support. It centralises and monitors all rail travel expenditure in one place with bespoke travel preferences and policies – ultimately saving valuable time and money.”
Helping passengers to travel safely and comfortably, West Midlands Trains has put a number of strict measures in place.
As well as cleaning trains with the latest antiviral equipment, the West Midlands Trains’ staff are working hard to help passengers remain as safe as possible with extra measures in place at stations. They are on hand at all times should they need any assistance.
The operator is also reminding all passengers that social distancing may not always be possible and in crowded spaces, wear a face covering (unless exempt) out of respect to others.
To find out more, visit www.wmr.uk/justbusiness or www.lnr.uk/justbusiness.