Alain van West Joins SilverRail as Vice President Business Development

SilverRail Technologies, the developer of a global distribution platform specialising in passenger rail, has appointed Alain van West as Vice President Business Development.

A specialist in international travel sales and distribution, van West was previously the Director of Large Market Sales at American Express.

His appointment comes at a time when SilverRail is undertaking a robust programme to sign on more train operating companies to its simplified rail ticketing system, SilverCore.

SilverRail has already partnered with carriers in the UK, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Benelux, the US and Canada, allowing them to easily sell tickets via online travel agents and travel management companies.

“In the EU alone, the next 10 years will see more than $500 billion invested in the rail sector, making rail travel more and more attractive to consumers,” said van West. “To take advantage of this, rail carriers need to figure out how to make tickets easily available to passengers no matter where in the world they are, what language they speak and which currency they use. Purchasing rail tickets doesn’t need to be difficult and can be as easy as booking flights.”

SilverRail CEO, Aaron Gowell said, “Alain has previous experience working on both sides of the supply and demand chain with prominent travel brands, including Eurostar, US Airways and British Airways as well as several Travel Management Companies including Carlson Wagonlit and BCD. These roles have given him a broad understanding of the travel market and put him in good stead to help SilverRail reach its goal of being the global rail ticketing platform.”