YTL's ERL Receives Top Honours at Global AirRail Awards
Kuala Lumpur, 21st May 2014
Express Rail Link Sdn Bhd (ERL) was named the “AirRail Link of the Year” at the Global AirRail Awards (GARA) 2014. This is the second time that ERL was given the prestigious international recognition following its first win in 2012.
ERL has received top honours at the Global AirRail Awards for four consecutive years. The KLIA Ekspres VIP Service was honoured with 'Best Customer Service Award' & CEO Noormah Mohd Noor was named 'Personality of the Year' at GARA 2011. In 2012, ERL was named the 'North Star Air Rail Link of the Year' and following that received the 'Environmental Commitment Award' at GARA 2013.
Noormah Mohd Noor, Chief Executive Officer of ERL received the award at a ceremony held during the international conference ‘Global AirRail: Customer Experience’ held in Oslo, Norway on 15th May 2014. Noormah said: “There are 140 airports in the world that have direct rail links, and at least 24 of them are dedicated air-rail links. So, it was indeed a great honour to be recognised by our peers on a global platform. We worked hard to improve our services to customers who keep us on our toes all the time. ERL proves that a Malaysian company can provide world-class services with the right mix of technologies and human resource investment.”
Also awarded top honours at GARA in the 'Best Payment Solution' category, was Xchanging, the business process, procurement and technology services provider in pioneering automatic fare collection system for the KLIA Ekspres and KLIA Transit services operated by ERL.
The automatic fare collection (AFC) system is the first global cloud-based travel and ticketing exchange, and services over 7 million passengers per annum. The system offers an end-to-end multi-channel avenue and validation solution that manages ticketing operations across six stations from the capital's transport hub to the international airports.
Muralidhran Nadarajah, CEO, Xchanging Malaysia, said: "It is truly exciting to win a GARA Award, and we are honoured to be recognised in the best payment solution category for our services with Express Rail Link. Xchanging's vision was to implement a cloud-based digital transportation experience for seamless route planning and payment options that would be a game changer for the industry. We are also pleased that with the success of our system, it has opened up new avenues of growth for Express Rail Link within the AFC industry in Malaysia."
Noormah commented: "We extend our congratulations to Xchanging in winning the GARA Award. Their advanced AFC system provided us with an integrated technology solution that not only achieved increased cost savings at every service touch-point, but also connected millions of passengers for an improved travel experience."
The awards and conference were organised by the Global AirRail Alliance (GARA), an international organisation dedicated to air-rail intermodality. Judges from air and rail industries evaluated the entries and selected this year’s winners in 9 different categories. The judges for the AirRail Link of the Year award category looked for excellence in, among other things: service to customers, revenue growth and performance improvements, development and introduction of new services and products, and effective communication with customers.
The judges commended ERL on its very good overall long-term performance, good adoption of new technology, consistent positive business results, and were impressed by the development of station infrastructure as part of the growth plan. On the implementation of ERL’s new cloud-based Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system, the judges felt that the development of the concept had led to improved ridership and patronage, which was the essence of good air-rail connectivity.
Milda Manomaityte, Managing Director of Air Rail News Ltd and co-host of the Global AirRail Awards, said: “Cooperation is a vital feature in delivering the seamless journey experience between train and plane. To stay ahead in the competition with other transport modes, airport rail links have to constantly improve their service via new technologies, customer service and marketing. The AirRail Link of the Year award recognises the service with best performance results and highest overall impact to the air-rail market over the past year. Congratulations to KLIA Ekspres!”
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