We're approaching a defining moment for the rail industry in Britain. After more than 25 years, a new payment and revenue system is on the cusp of rollout throughout the country, bringing better customer experience and transparency for all Train Operating Companies (TOCs)
LENNON – the system that processes two million rail journeys a day – is edging closer to deployment as part of a nine-year contract between Magellan (formerly Worldline Mobility and e-Transactional Services) and the Rail Delivery Group (RDG). At Magellan, we have worked closely with RDG and partners to help implement a solution that is designed for the long term. The current version of the system has been in place since 1997, and while it has certainly been fit for purpose for many of those years, in a post COVID and digital-age Britain, the way people travel and use the rail network is very different to how it was almost 30 years ago.
Once operational, this new system will power a more responsive, data-driven and customer-focused service as the re-nationalisation of the railway gets underway with Great British Railways (GBR). It will reflect how and when customers actually travel, rather than using a probability-based model that is only revised every six months
The new system will use real-time actual passenger data retrieval, meaning systems can be adaptive and responsive to the needs of customers and help journeys run smoothly, while reducing burden on TOCs and staff. Operators will now be remunerated by customers they carry, with services shaped by real demand and decisions driven by evidence – rather than timetabled services.
Combining accurate settlement, real journey data, AI and Google Cloud technology enables evidence-based decisions that make travel more reliable, convenient and attractive. The modernisation programme includes full migration and the replacement of the legacy ORCATS revenue allocation engine to a more flexible, scalable system.
A railway that responds
The shift to a system grounded in real journey data will strengthen the link between performance and payment for the benefit of the customer.
At Magellan, we know that accuracy is critical to achieve better outcomes for customers and operators. With two million journeys taken every day, a one-in-a-million event happens twice a night on the UK's railways, so the system must account for all those situations and process revenue equitably.
The real benefit is that when rewards reflect the journeys people are making, it's not only the timetable being followed, but incentives are matched to impact. Train service reliability matters too, and connections matter more because customers choose journeys that are faster with fewer changes. Delivering the service customers expect becomes easier with greater visibility of how to make them work effectively.
Strengthening the data foundations behind LENNON will enable true multi-modal integration. In a fast approaching tap-on, tap-off era where technology exists to use real journey data to improve services and make better decisions, it would be remiss to lose this opportunity to create better outcomes for future generations of rail customers.
The transformed LENNON platform will be able to harness data from ticket sales, gate information and service performance to calculate revenue in real-time, allowing a clear overview of what happened on the network on a given day.
Today, there is currently no unified view of how demand shifts by time, route, season or event. The new cloud-based engine – being re-written in parallel with the existing platform which will be 'lifted and shifted' to ensure resilience – will change that.
A railway that responds
If you understand how customers are using the network, you can change how you offer services tomorrow. Moving to a system that reflects and identifies real usage builds confidence across the industry that revenue is being distributed fairly and transparently. That is essential as Great British Railways evolves.
Richer data will enable operators and planners to identify under-served routes where demand exists, but services don't, and adjust capacity accordingly. It will also allow modelling of timetable changes to test their customer impact and improve reliability by understanding which connections affect the most people.
For customers, the changes will be felt in subtle but meaningful ways such as better-timed services, smarter capacity planning, responsive scheduling and personalised and integrated travel options.
But the implications go further than timetable reform. As rail becomes more data-driven, it is increasingly connected to wider mobility – from metro systems and buses to retail, events and integrated ticketing.
Rail doesn't exist in isolation. It's part of a wider mobility journey. Customers are concerned with getting from A to B seamlessly, so by strengthening the data foundations behind LENNON, we will enable true multi-modal integration.
This is about moving to demand-led mobility. Combining accurate settlement, real journey data, AI and Google cloud technology enables evidence-based decisions that make travel more reliable, convenient and attractive. That's how we can shift behaviour and grow rail.
