21 November 2017 at 08:00 (GMT) Download PDF
Trainline’s voice app is built for the Google Assistant and designed to simplify people’s rail journey planning.
London, UK, EMBARGOED UNTIL 00.01, 21 November 2017 – Trainline, Europe’s leading independent train ticket retailer and train travel app, has launched a voice app built for the Google Assistant.
Trainline’s voice app allows rail travellers to “talk to Trainline” by asking everyday travel questions about their journey, with real-time updates on details that matter most, like timetables and delays. The Trainline app for the Google Assistant is now available on eligible Android phones, on the Assistant app on iOS, and on Assistant-enabled devices like Google Home.
Trainline’s voice app combines Trainline’s leading travel technology experience with Google’s conversational platform to make accessing information on the move easier than ever before.
Trainline’s voice app can handle deep conversational complexity, including answering twelve layers of questioning. Users can “talk to Trainline” and make requests such as, “I’d like to take a train from Manchester to London on 15th December at 9am”, and then follow up with intuitive questions including, “Are there any changes?”, “Who is the train operator?”, “What’s the weather at my destination?” or, “Is this an Off-Peak train?” Rail commuters who are in a rush to get to and from work can also teach Trainline’s voice app to recognise their commuting patterns from regular places such as home. The app also has smart built-in features: for example, real-time delays and the time required to walk to or from a station are taken into account when providing answers. A user can simply ask Trainline, “How is my commute home?” or “how is my commute to work?”.
WHY A CONVERSATIONAL EXPERIENCE?
Trainline’s voice app can help simplify people’s lives - especially for people in a rush to get somewhere like walking between stations through a crowd, or getting ready in the morning. It’s easier to talk to a service to get quick answers on a journey, when users are unable to type into their device. For the times that users are driving, whilst using their phones hands-free, walking, cooking or even wearing gloves, talking to Trainline helps to make accessing this information more seamless.
HOW IT WORKS
To launch the app, users already in the Google Assistant can say or type, “Ok Google, talk to Trainline”, or go directly to the information they need, such as, “Ok Google, ask Trainline how my journey home is looking.” Travellers can then ask about journey times and details, prices, delays and disruptions, the weather at their destination or departure point, and more.
As people use the app, it will reveal more features over time. There are some fun hidden moments built in too. For example, users can ask Trainline to tell them a joke, or give them some train trivia.
Trainline’s voice app is also created to be used easily on phones. “Cards” in the app show helpful details like the weather or if a train is on time or delayed. Additionally, suggestions will pop up to offer phrases that can help users continue the conversation for easy discovery of useful features.
Google’s platform for building conversational experiences, DialogFlow, uses machine learning to understand what users are saying, and analyses the user’s intent to help Trainline respond in the most useful way.
Trainline’s mission is to use technology to make travel as smart and simple as possible. Trainline’s voice app is the latest in a long line of innovations that make this possible. We’re proud to have worked with Google and its powerful new Assistant platform on the creation of voice capabilities that can deliver complex travel information in a quick, simple and personal way.
Dave Slocombe
Product Director, at Trainline
It’s a pleasure to work with the Trainline team to innovate for travellers using conversational intelligence. The Google Assistant is all about helping people get things done more seamlessly with conversation. Trainline’s voice app can make your commute or journey even easier; we want rail travellers to be able to get real-time updates when they need them, especially ahead of the festive season.
Alice Zimmermann
Global Product Partnerships at Google
Trainline’s voice app is the latest feature built by Trainline’s 250+ strong team of tech specialists and engineers. This team recently released innovative features such as Price Prediction, which uses advanced data models with machine learning to identify when advance fares are likely to rise; or ‘BusyBot,’ which helps passengers find a seat on busy trains based on crowdsourcing.
Trainline‘s voice app is available now; just type or say, “Ok Google, talk to Trainline,” into the Google Assistant on your phone or Assistant-enabled device (eg. Google Home) to get started. Simply activate the Google Assistant on your Android device, or download the Google Assistant app on iOS.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
*Trainline’s voice app is available on the Google Assistant app on iOS and Android. Android users running Android 6.0 and above may have the Google Assistant as part of their Android software.
**Trainline’s voice app is available with the Google Assistant on phones and speakers.
For media enquiries contact the Marlin PR Trainline team on 020 932 5580 / Trainline@marlinpr.com
About Trainline
Trainline is Europe’s leading independent train ticket retailer and train travel app. We sell tickets worldwide on behalf of 87 train companies and a growing number of coach companies, helping our customers make more than 125,000 journeys every day in and across 24 countries. We are a one-stop shop for rail travel, bringing together major train companies onto one platform, providing our customers with a complete set of travel options and offering unique, AI driven travel information and recommendations to help our customers stay one step ahead.