Implementation of the OSDM (Open Sales and Distribution Model) standard is being enhanced thanks to a new partnership between Benerail (the joint venture between the Dutch and Belgian Railways to facilitate seamless travel between countries) and Sqills (subsidiary of Siemens Mobility providing inventory, reservation and ticketing software for the public transport industry).
The collaboration between the two companies will further roll out and optimise the OSDM standard as many operators who currently use the S3 Passenger inventory, reservation and ticketing software will be able to distribute their tickets through the Benerail distribution platform. In addition, distribution partners can easily access S3 Passenger offerings through configuration instead of development. This not only simplifies the process but also streamlines ticket distribution and promotes standardisation in the rail industry.
The Open Sales and Distribution Model (OSDM) is a rail sector specification enabling interoperable ticket sales for trains and other modes of transport and is defined in the new UIC International Railway Solution (IRS) 90918-10.
The aims of OSDM are twofold: first, to substantially simplify and improve the booking process for customers of public transport trips and, secondly, to lower complexity and distribution costs for distributors and carriers.
OSDM is jointly developed by the members of UIC, the worldwide railway organisation, and Ticket Vendors with the members of EU Travel Tech and the European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Association, as well as Railway IT providers (Bileto, Sqills and Turnit).
Both Sqills and Benerail strongly support the OSDM initiative. Benerail has a longstanding commitment to the OSDM standard and its precursor, the Full Service Model. Similarly, Sqills recognises the value of OSDM and has contributed to the initiative since 2020 to promote interoperability. In 2021, Sqills also provided the OSDM community with a first sandbox environment and automated tool that stakeholders use to verify if their OSDM API endpoint complies with the jointly agreed implementation scenarios.
UIC fully supports this partnership to improve rail ticket distribution and international passenger travel.
Read more about the partnership here:
https://benerail.com/news/benerail-and-sqills-join-forces-to-further-implement-standardisation/
