Loco2

Functionality and booking capability

Loco2 provides coverage for approximately 12 countries in Europe and is integrated with multiple rail operators, including ATOC in the United Kingdom, SNCF in France, Deutsche Bahn in Germany, Renfe in Spain and both Italo and Trenitalia in Italy. The company sells fares for all major high-speed rail services in Europe, such as TGV, ICE, Eurostar, AVE, Thalys, Frecciarossa, and Italo.

A 2014 Business Traveler article about Loco2 noted that booking rail tickets directly through Europe's rail operators often leads to inconsistent user experiences including credit card rejection issues, limited access to discount fares, and complicated navigation experiences. A similar TechCrunch article characterized the booking systems as "fiendishly complex."

The company's stated aim is to enable "simple, fast rail booking in the UK and across Europe". Loco2 also states a commitment to customer support using multi-channel support tools. Independent customer reviews of the service via Trustpilot give Loco2 an average rating of 9.2 out of 10 stars.

The company's name is both an abbreviation of the phrase "low CO₂" as well as a reference to locomotive travel. Loco2 exclusively focuses on rail travel, as a low carbon alternative to air travel, due to rail travel's ability to reduce a traveller's carbon footprint by up to 90 percent.

Loco2 acts as an alternative to traditional rail booking systems by aggregating multiple reservation systems into its service, allowing users to search for and book fares across multiple countries within one transaction. Loco2 users can access standard rate fares as well as the discounted fares associated with each operator, such as Renfe's Turista Promo, Deutsche Bahn's London Sparpreis and Europa Sparpreis, as well as SNCF's Prems fares and ATOC's range of discounted Advance Fares.

Companies like Loco2 are expected to expand their market share as the European Commission continues efforts to open the European rail market to increased competition. Loco2’s progress takes place against the backdrop of regulatory initiatives such as TAP-TSI.

History

Loco2 was founded in 2006 by Kate Andrews during her final year as an Undergraduate at Sussex University. The goal initially was to launch a low carbon travel company. As the company’s focus moved to European rail specifically, she was joined by her brother Jamie Andrews and Technical Director Jon Leighton, a leading contributor to Ruby on Rails.

From 2011 onwards, Loco2 began to integrate with the booking systems of Europe’s major rail operators, which have been historically isolated not only from one another but also from third party services.

As of 2015, Loco2 is integrated with the following rail operator booking systems in Europe:

In 2013 Loco2 partnered with The Guardian to launch Guardian Trains, a Guardian-branded version of Loco2's train ticket booking application.

In 2014 Loco2 added Vimal Khosla, previously a board member of lastminute.com, to its board.

In 2016, the company underwent a full redesign, updating their logo, colourway and user platform. It also released its first smartphone apps, with an iOS version launched in April and an Android version available from July.

Ownership and funding

Loco2 is a private company, limited by shares. It's owners include founders, Jamie and Kate Andrews as well as members of their family and friends. Additional investment has been secured from individuals and consortiums of angel investors. Shareholders include Ed Gillespie, founder of sustainability strategy and creative agency, Futerra, and author of Only Planet, which documents a low-carbon journey around the world.

The company has received a total of £1 million in funding over a number of investment rounds from private angel investors. As part of its investment raising activities the company was featured on the BBC News website in a piece focusing on the "real life Dragons' Den".

Call for open data

In a 2011 Wired Magazine article, Loco2's CEO and founder Jamie Andrews called for rail operators to provide "better (and fairer) access to rail data." Andrews argued that a move to standardise data across Europe's different operators would serve to protect passenger rights.

In 2013 the company held a “hack day” at Google Campus in London, showcasing what could be done with open rail data in the UK.