Avonet Builds Metro One’s
Industry-Redefining Train Booking System, Rail Online.
Metro One’s Rail Online was born when Kewmaaz Muthalif (Kew), James Dunne, and Lachlan McCallum had a vision – revolutionise the rail sector by providing travellers with an easy-to-use booking portal. Having built and launched Rail Online successfully, we caught up with Kew to discuss his experience working with Avonet. Kew is the CTO and co-founder of Metro One. Of his nearly two decades in the IT industry, he has spent the last nine in tech travel, specialising in Rail and Airline.
Introduction
The rail transportation industry is a complex one. Unlike airlines, where you can fly from Point A to B, rail itineraries are intricate. For example, if you were touring France, and wanted to explore beyond Paris, you must travel by train. Knowing where the train stations are, which trains to take, and being able to plan your itinerary are key to optimising your time on holiday.
Europe has over 6,000 stations. For a tourist, this can be overwhelming. And there aren’t many services to help them.
So, Kew, along with two partners, both former executives at Rail Europe, birthed the idea for Rail Online to cater to this underserved market. With their domain expertise and fantastic product, they are poised to make a real difference in the rail travel sector, which is a $65 million industry, not just in Europe, but in Australia and New Zealand as well.
Challenge
Building relationships with key stakeholders and negotiating international contracts were part of just one side of the business. To make Rail Online a reality, the company’s vision had to be translated into a robust online portal – a complete booking system where customers from anywhere in the world can plan and book their rail itineraries.
Building a business during a pandemic comes with risks. For Rail Online, hiring a full-time team consisting of developers, team leads, project managers, and testers was out of the question.
The other option was to hire freelancers, which meant minimal control, communication breakdowns, and no accountability.
They needed something better.
Solution – Hybrid Development Partner
With a stringent list of requirements, Kew and his team initiated a Request for Proposal (RFP) to identify a suitable company that would not just act as a service provider, but also as an extended team.
Avonet made the cut amidst stiff competition with our:
- Proven track record
- With delighted clients,
- In a range of industries, and
- Implementing within budget and schedule.
- Deep domain knowledge having worked with Rail Europe
- Technical expertise in sync with Metro One’s tech stack
- Central location of the development team
- Multi-discipline talent pool
- Excellent coordination and communication
While our core API was new to them, their experience with APIs and integrations played a crucial role in shortening their learning curve.
This translated into a lot of time saved during implementation.
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