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Transforming Journey Planning

Go-Ahead

Screenshot of the On Track app

Transforming Journey Planning

  • Category: Transport Modern Software Engineering

More of us are travelling more often by rail in the UK than ever before, and stress levels can run high on our journeys. From finding the right platform to delays and purchasing tickets, there are so many pain points passengers must navigate just to get from A to B.

Working with one of the UK’s largest transport operators, Go-Ahead Group, Kin + Carta has turned journey planning on its head with On Track to create the fastest, smartest journey planning experience available for anyone travelling by rail, on any line, across the UK.

On Track meets all your travel requirements in your pocket, intelligently polling data from Go-Ahead, National Rail Enquiries, and Transport for London. Available free for both iOS and Android phones, On Track comes branded for each of Go-Ahead Group’s rail companies: Southern, Southeastern, London Midland and Thameslink.

screenshot from the Go-Ahead app

Getting started

Right from the outset, it became immediately apparent that most journey planning apps consistently failed to reflect passengers’ personal daily travel habits and requirements. The experience was often generic, and impersonal. To top it off, the application of web technology in the mobile environment meant existing experiences were sluggish, leading to poor performance that hampered usage and transactions. Instead, we took a different approach and made it our mission to understand passenger pain points, stripping away any unnecessary steps. To help us, we recruited hundreds of passengers from existing networks to iterate designs, putting prototypes in their hands and capturing their feedback across every stage of development.

screenshot from the Go-Ahead app

A friction-free experience

At the heart of the app is an intuitive dashboard that can be easily personalised and is designed to surface real-time information immediately upon opening. The dashboard presents train times, platform information and live service updates for regularly travelled journeys without a user needing to ask.

A user can see exactly where their chosen train is at any point along its journey. The route is shown on an interactive map, with stops and interchanges of each individual journey ‘leg’ clearly marked. With an easily accessible secondary menu, contacting customer services, submitting a ‘Delay Repay’ claim, and even paying for car parking at Go-Ahead Group stations is only a tap away.

 

"The most significant strategic factor in On Track's success has been the impressive collaboration between Go-Ahead Group, Kin + Carta and our passengers. The outcome is a smart, intuitive app that genuinely sets a new benchmark in journey planning and which passengers find real value in.”

Gillian Singh - Formerly Group Marketing Director (Go-Ahead Group)