AT LAST – SIMPLE UK RAIL TICKETING!

Quno launch set to kick-start online rail booking: Visual timetable makes finding train times and fares easy

LONDON – Fall 2010 – In stark contrast to the seven out of ten UK consumers that now book air travel online, two out of three UK rail passengers[i] still queue up at the railway station to buy train tickets. Quno.com, a new rail search and booking service launched today, has finally made it quick and easy for travellers to search and book train travel online. The Quno website features the internet’s first visual rail timetable. This ingenious tool allows customers to compare every train service available for a particular journey at a glance and purchase their tickets quickly. Quno also makes the best tools from online travel sites available to UK rail passengers for the first time.

Finding the right UK rail ticket at Quno.com takes a fraction of the time it takes to go to the station. Quno operates independently from the train companies, so customers can be confident they are comparing the best routes and fares made available by all operators. Tickets can be collected quickly from self-service kiosks, or the ticket office at the station on the day of travel, or can be posted beforehand.

Quno has been developed specifically to address the issues that prevent UK travellers choosing to buy rail travel online. The company has removed the complexity that surrounds the UK rail ticketing system by making available to rail customers the convenient, easy to use online tools that are already commonplace on air and hotel booking sites. More features will appear over the coming months, including a mobile phone app and international train services.

“UK rail passengers can now feel confident about booking train travel online as we have cut through the historic complexity of times and fares. With the number of rail travellers at record levels and the dawn of high-speed services, we believe there is a huge opportunity for customers to benefit by using Quno’s straightforward search and booking process,” said Jeremy Acklam, managing director of Quno. “At Quno we set out to simplify the process of booking rail travel online by being innovative and independent. We have given customers the confidence that when they search for and book rail journeys on Quno they have visibility of tickets for all UK journeys, knowing that the fares that we show on the site are never available cheaper at the station.”

About Brook Venture Partners
Brook Venture Partners provides expansion stage capital through Brook Venture Fund I, Brook Venture Fund II and other co-investment funds to Information Technology and Medical Technology companies located in the Northeastern United States. The firm focuses on investments of $5-$10 million and specializes in both financing and providing the strategic and planning support necessary to rapidly scale and accelerate sales and marketing activities. Brook is headquartered outside Boston in Wakefield, MA. For more information, call 781-295-4000 or visit www.brookventure.com.

About Quno
Quno is the web’s first straightforward rail search and booking engine – making rail booking as clear and simple as it is with airline ticketing. Quno rail booking searches will display results, including fares & timetables that are visually organised and clearly presented, which can be sorted according to customer preferences, enabling rail tickets to be booked in the fewest steps. Quno is part of SilverRail Technologies, a global travel technology group focused on delivering global rail solutions. The company is funded by top-tier US and UK venture capital firms. The SilverRail team has extensive global online travel technology experience in air, hotels and cruise sectors.

[i] Source Passenger Focus