SilverRail Technologies has signed its first major online travel agency deal, powering what will be the new rail channel on European online travel agency Ebookers from 2012.
The deal with Orbitz Worldwide-owned Ebookers will see SilverRail's Silvercore integrated across 12 country sites in Europe, giving the agency its first foray into rail search and ticketing for multiple train operators on the continent.
Although Ebookers and Orbitz are now on a unified technology platform, Orbitz has not been included in the partnership.
As well as giving users the ability to book rail-only fares, Ebookers will be packaging tickets with hotels also available on the system.
SilverRail is hoping the deal will trigger a wave of interest around online travel agencies to start focusing on rail product, especially in Europe where high-speed train travel is seeing heavy investment by a string of countries including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.
The company, which was on the receiving end of a $5 million investment round in April this year, signed another significant deal a few months ago when Sabre picked it to power the rail search and booking provision on the GetThere platform.