Last minute business travel made easier: CrossCountry extends ‘Advance on the Day’ tickets to Evolvi corporate customers

The 'Advance on the Day' initiative has seen CrossCountry introduce across all its routes* the opportunity for passengers to buy discounted 'Advance' tickets within just 15 minutes of their train leaving the station - enabling travellers to make the most of last minute bookings, while still reserving a seat.

After a successful 'Advance on the Day' testing period involving Travel Management Group, facilitated through Evolvi Rail Systems, CrossCountry's exclusive fares are now available for the corporate clients of travel management companies to purchase through the EvolviNG rail booking and fulfilment system.

David Watkin, Commercial Director at CrossCountry says: "We are delighted to extend 'Advance on the Day' tickets to corporate customers through EvolviNG, opening up opportunities for more customers who often have to make a-mad-dash for an unplanned meeting out of town. These tickets will offer savings against the 'walk-up' fares currently available on the day of travel so if a business customer has to buy last minute, they'll still be able to save with CrossCountry."

The development is an industry leading initiative in keeping with CrossCountry's drive for innovation, using technology to deliver products and services that are relevant to today's business customers.

Currently other train companies close reservations for Advance tickets between 18.00-23.59 the night before travel, whereas CrossCountry Advance on the day tickets will become available for sale when the industry-wide Advance purchase window closes at 23.59. Tickets can be fulfilled as an m-ticket, Print Your Own (self-print) or via a ticket machine at the station.

Jon Reeve, Trade Relations Director at Evolvi Rail Systems, says: "We are excited to offer our customers such a flexible approach to buying rail tickets and are thrilled to be partnering with CrossCountry. Today, corporates are more focussed than ever on improving efficiencies and optimising travel budgets wherever possible - last minute travel can be a costly and the extension of Advance on the Day tickets will make a significant difference."

Ian Currington, National Account Director, from TMG was pleased to be the first company to take part in the ticket trial earlier this month adding; "Advance Purchase fares are ideal for last minute meetings or change of plan on the day of travel and we're confident that this innovation from CrossCounty and Evolvi Rail Systems will provide us with further opportunities to significantly reduce our clients travel costs and save time spent trying to find alternative solutions for last minute travel."

Advance on the Day tickets can be bought up to 15 minutes before travel through the EvolviNG platform. Travel management companies seeking more information should email [email protected]. 

Notes to Editors

For further information on CrossCountry, please contact Kelly Mortlock, Becky Riffel or Rioco Green on 020 7025 7522 or email [email protected].  

For further information on Evolvi Rail Systems, please contact, Philip Colley on 023 9244 9655 / 07785 306378 or email [email protected].

CrossCountry

Examples of possible savings*

All prices quoted are Standard fares. Advance fares and seat reservations are subject to availability and not available on all CrossCountry services or routes. For full terms and conditions for Advance fares, see CrossCountry's Advance tickets page on its website.

'Advance' tickets are discounted quota-controlled fares designed to encourage customers to travel on services where spare capacity is available and are a key factor in the growth in passenger journeys on Britain's railways. The allocation of 'Advance' tickets on each train is closely controlled to account for expected demand and these tickets can be purchased up to 12 weeks before a train's departure. Customers are still advised to book their journeys as far in advance as possible to secure the best price, as once the allocation has been exhausted then only full priced tickets can be purchased. 'Advance on the Day' tickets are available on all direct journeys using only CrossCountry services and where allocation remains. Evolvi's corporate customers/ TMC's can now book 'Advance on the Day' via its platforms. Additional information can be found here: https://www.evolvi.co.uk/. 

*Advance tickets on the day are available on all CrossCountry routes except:

Birmingham New Street to Nottingham and Birmingham New Street to Leicester - both routes are non-reserve-able.  

Evolvi Rail Systems

Evolvi Rail Systems' online rail booking and fulfilment platform - EvolviNG - focuses exclusively on business rail travel and is used by Travel Management Companies (TMCs) to meet the needs of their corporate customers. EvolviNG has been designed by business travel specialists to provide travel managers and procurement professionals with an online rail booking and ticket fulfilment service. It is able to deliver significant advantages in cost centre and project code transaction cost attribution, travel policy compliance and on-line management information capability. The system can also provide a complete on-line C02 emissions report using multi-modal comparative data. The EvolviNG system offers the greatest number of rail booking and fulfilment options of any online rail provider in addition to the production of a ticket by the TMC.

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Contact Information

CrossCountry Press Office: [email protected]

About CrossCountry

CrossCountry is a long-distance passenger train operator, with a network stretching from Aberdeen to Penzance and from Stansted to Cardiff and calling at over 100 stations. Based in Birmingham, CrossCountry connects seven of Britain’s 10 largest cities and delivers 240 services every weekday, equating to over 42 million passenger journeys each year.

For further information on CrossCountry services, visit crosscountrytrains.co.uk or visit one of our social media platforms via X @crosscountryuk or Facebook at facebook.com/crosscountrytrains