Central Trains on track

Citation

(2003), "Central Trains on track", Work Study, Vol. 52 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ws.2003.07952fab.013

Central Trains on track

Central Trains, operator of UK rail services between Liverpool and Norwich, Cardiff and Sheffield, has appointed developers for a new Web-based data warehousing solution. The system, building on existing Web modules, will take advantage of the obvious benefits offered by Web technology, such as flexible access, live updating and the removal of space restrictions. Long term customer histories, on up to a million contacts, will be compiled from various sources including ticketing, affinity and loyalty schemes. Data will also be enhanced with both internally generated profiles and external geo-demographic datasets. Flexible search and analysis options will allow full data manipulation and extraction. e-crmdata.com, a UK based provider of desktop and Web data handling solutions, is building and hosting the new system which features a blend of "bespoking" and use of existing packages. It will also be capturing the hard copy data and harmonising current electronic data records. Future capacity will be built in. "This system will give us major advantages that until recently were only available utilising mainframe technology," said Roy Cooper, market analysis manager at Central Trains, adding, "we will have 24 hour, desktop, and remote, access to a sophisticated tool for data segmentation and analysis." Simon Davis, managing director at e-crmdata.com said, "Projects like these reflect the growing use of the Web to deliver even complex data solutions."