Modility Receives Additional Funding for Its Booking Portal

The technical development of further innovations at Modility, the booking and brokerage portal for combined transport, will be funded starting November 2022 as part of the federal program “Future Rail Freight Transport” by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV). The funds are intended to advance the development and integration of new features, thereby attracting additional user groups on both the supply and demand sides. The project will run until October 2024. ⁠ ⁠⁠

Managing Director Hendrik-Emmanuel Eichentopf sees the funding of Modility as a confirmation of the positive development of recent months. “Since our market launch in March 2021, we have made rapid progress with Modility. The successful piloting and increasing user and booking numbers have shown us how great the demand and potential for our solution in the market are. With the new funding, we can now elevate Modility functionally to the next level, thus facilitating the transition to more climate-friendly combined transport for users.” The pilot phase of Modility was also partially supported by the BMDV as part of the federal program “Future Rail Freight Transport.”

Attracting Additional User Groups

The goal of the now-starting demonstrator project is to attract additional user groups on both the supply and demand sides through new innovations. “During the piloting phase, we spoke with many companies that would like to use Modility but have very specific requirements,” says Eichentopf. “We need to consider these so that our online portal can be used comprehensively in operational everyday life and become the market standard.” Therefore, the implementation of three packages of measures is planned, consisting of functional and modular innovations as well as measures for market opening. The more precise representation of transport prices and available train capacities is part of the plans, as well as the acceleration and simplification of the booking process and the representation of processes for large customer organizations. In addition, a possibility for the technical connection of further transport platforms is to be implemented.

Offer Continues to Expand

Since its official market launch in March 2021, Modility has been on a growth trajectory. As of today, 40 train operators are already registered, marketing a bookable offer of more than 650 rail connections in Europe with approximately 2,500 departures per week through the portal. A total of more than 350 users are registered with Modility. “We are increasingly noticing that with the growing offer at Modility, we are not only an information portal but also a matchmaker,” states Eichentopf. The booking volume aimed for this year in the four-digit range has been exceeded. In 2023, it is expected to continue to grow – also with the help of the new funding.
Photo: © HHLA/Thies Rätzke