Sqills and benerail join forces to further implement OSDM

Sqills and benerail are proud to announce a new partnership and a commitment to further roll out and optimise the OSDM (Open Sales and Distribution Model) standard.

The partnership between benerail and Sqills means all 40+ operators currently using S3 Passenger, and those that will implement it in the future, are able to distribute their tickets through the benerail platform. The InterCity Brussel Amsterdam is now part of the list of operators to use S3 Passenger and available through the benerail platform.

It also means benerail distribution partners can obtain offerings from S3 Passenger through configuration rather than development. This helps to promote standardisation, which means a better experience for everyone in the rail industry.

Longstanding support for OSDM

Both Sqills and benerail strongly support the OSDM initiative. Sqills recognises the value of OSDM and has long been a proponent of the standard. After joining the initiative late 2020, Sqills contributed to the technical standard to promote interoperability.

This resulted in the first working OSDM implementation for any inventory management system. 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.

"This partnership reflects our shared vision for the future of the railway industry," stated Raimond de Nijs, co-director at benerail. "We have worked extensively in multiple working groups to focus our efforts on a standardised approach, which is crucial given the European significance of this issue."

Added value for operators

The benerail platform combines cross-country train journeys from different carriers in one single ticket. As benerail becomes an increasingly important distribution partner, the partnership with Sqills adds value for passengers because of the ability to purchase multi-operator journeys.

The partnership also adds value for operators that are now able to offer a wider network and journeys across international borders. This makes the partnership an important step in terms of the standardisation of multi inventory and international collaboration.

By working closely together with benerail, we combine the best inventory management platform available with a highly respected international distribution platform. This will further empower passenger transport operators and increase ticket sales

Bart van Munster - Sqills CEO