Railroads: Innovation is back and influence is growing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) January 25, 2012 -- BTN has named Aaron most influential, we’ve been calling him names for years!

Why is Aaron so beloved and successful in using technology to transform business? He built one of the largest companies in travel history (National Leisure Group) and now his company's technology platform is off to a steamy start in re-engineering the rail industry’s booking and access.

Want a glimpse of the future with a dose of past post mortem? Would you be open to a byline or a discussion with Aaron about subjects like these or others you may have in mind...?

• Businesses who postponed change
• Cultural rigidity – is it impacting your freedom of movement?
• Breaking down walls – technological walls, cultural walls...how advancements are made amidst fear
• Controlling your own web site, lessons in paranoia and dis-service
• Government monopolies missing incentives to change
• Leaving and industry to its cannibals
• Top 10 things that would shake up European travel expansion
Let me know when you have a few minutes to discuss.
Thanks,
Pamela

Aaron Gowell founded Silverrail Technologies, Inc. in 2009 and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Gowell built one of the largest travel technology and distribution companies in the US: National Leisure Group Inc. (NLG). He served as President, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Executive Officer of National Leisure Group, Inc., and also served as its Co-Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Gowell also served as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for National Leisure Group. Mr. Gowell served as Principal of General Catalyst Group, LLC, General Catalyst Group IV, L.P, General Catalyst Group V, L.P, General Catalyst Group III, L.P., General Catalyst Group II, L.P. and General Catalyst Partners. Prior to joining General Catalyst, Mr. Gowell served as a Management Consultant of Bain & Company, where he helped start two separate leverage buyout practices. Mr. Gowell served as Senior Strategist of Onboard Media, a Miami Cruise Holdings company (an Operating Investment by GC principals), where, along with Joel Cutler, he acquired and integrated five separate companies over the course of 14 months. As a Member of The Core Senior Management Team at Onboard Media, he has successfully developed partnerships with leading web portals and travel sites that include Yahoo, Lycos and Expedia. He served as an Entrepreneur in Residence of General Catalyst Partners. Mr. Gowell was US Army Paratrooper who served in the 82nd Airborne during Desert Storm, where he earned the Bronze Star, an Army Commendation Medal, and an Army Achievement Medal for his activities with Operation Just Cause and Operation Desert Storm. He was a Founding Member of General Catalyst Partners. Mr. Gowell graduated from Northeastern University summa cum laude with a B.S. in Finance.

SilverRail’s Aaron Gowell Named Top 25 Most Influential Executives of 2011 by BusinessTravelNews
Integrated Global Rail Bookings Ready for Prime Time

LONDON and BOSTON, January 24, 2012 - - Aaron Gowell , co-Founder and CEO of SilverRail, was named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Executives of 2011 by BusinessTravelNews, the leading digital magazine for the business travel community. With SilverRail’s creation of a globally integrated rail scheduling and booking platform connecting the world’s rail systems technologically, Gowell and his colleagues are behind an advancement that visibly and structurally changes how we live. He told BTN that the company is taking on the herculean task of “trying to make rail as easy to book as air.” As a technology company, SilverRail works with Passenger Rail Carriers and Train Operating Companies to further their reach; distributing their product to their customers, through traditional and established on-line and off-line travel distribution channels.
For the first time, the Travel Distribution Marketplace and the $300B Passenger Rail Market have been brought together and can now transact seamlessly and efficiently. With $200 million invested annually, passenger rail is the travel industry’s fastest growing sector, and attracts twice the amount of investment that the air sector does, including airports, air traffic control, and planes.

SilverRail is enabling technology that globalizes and expedites rail throughout all means of travel choices, and has already attracted the likes of some of the strongest corporate travel players including Egencia, Orbtiz for Business, Get There, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, American Express Business Travel and Rearden Commerce.

“Our vision at SilverRail means accomplishing a great deal in Europe in 2012,” said Gowell, “We’ve been successful as executives in building similar systems for airlines and cruise lines and we know now is the right time for rail. For all the investment and advances in the rail marketplace, distribution and sales have not kept up. Over 60% of rail tickets are still sold offline at the train station immediately prior to departure. This has to change, and SilverRail will enable rail carriers to place their product where their customers naturally go first when thinking about travel.”
In 2010, the SilverRail technology platform was named the travel industry’s top innovator at PhoCusWright’s Annual Travel Innovation Summit. Every incremental passenger that SilverRail enables to book and travel by train rather than plane reduces that individual’s CO2 output by up to 90% for that journey. SilverRail has attracted $9.5 million in a Series A round from Sutter Hill Ventures, Grandbanks Capital, PAR Capital and Brook Ventures.
About SilverRail

Founded in 2009, SilverRail connects the world of rail by building best-in-class technical solutions that help railways and travel distributors easily connect with each other. SilverRail provides the underlying technology platform that enables the consolidation of global rail into a single system, removing the complexity of selling rail, irrespective of the operators, geographies and currencies. Co- founders Aaron Gowell (CEO) and Will Phillipson (EVP Product Strategy) are travel ecommerce experts whose history goes back to the founding days of online travel. The team previously worked together to found and build one of the largest travel technology and distribution companies in the U.S.: National Leisure Group (NLG), a $1 Billion ecommerce leader in vacation and cruise travel.
Contact;
Pamela Johnston
Pamela@Cloud12pr.com
(646) 918-8812

techology