Improving mobility does not always mean having to build new expensive infrastructure. Easily available and clear passenger information, linked with integrated ticketing are therefore deciding factors for travel choice in addition to the more traditional values such as frequency, journey time, and comfort. Rail is making considerable improvements in the availability of information. The internet is being used to give passengers easy and immediate access to the information they need. Modern communications allow passenger information centres to be located in areas of high unemployment and with cheaper facilities, as Virgin Trains has shown by locating their telesales centre in the north of Scotland.
Urban space is used more efficiently by modes such as rail.
Rail can transport large numbers of people both into and within cities more quickly than any other mode. But it should not just end there. Comfort and attractiveness are linked with the quality of transfers between modes. There is still work to be done to integrate rail better with other modes, especially with regard to information and ticketing, to make public transport seamless. In Paris, the Service Village concept has been developed, which converts interchanges into small urban centres, properly integrated into their surroundings and at which businesses and complementary services unrelated to transport are on offer.