SilverRail secures $5 million for rail API

Updating technology for passenger rail ticketing solutions, SilverRail funded again by old investors

SilverRail Technologies, provider of passenger rail ticketing solutions, announced Monday that it has secured $5 million in Series B funding led by PAR Capital with participation from Sutter Hill, Grandbanks Capital, Brook Ventures and Accel Partners. All five had previously raised a total of $9.6 million for the company, we've confirmed.

SilverCore, SilverRail’s platform for fares, routes and schedules, payment processing and every other facet of trip planning, is built to seamlessly integrate with multiple systems from many different rail companies. Since SilverRail offers up an API for the platform, companies have increased flexibility in selling rail tickets.

Rail companies currently employing SilverRail to support their systems include UK rail, Amtrak (USA), Via Rail Canada and the rail system in the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg).

"The response from train operating companies has been overwhelming,” says company co-founder and CEO Aaron Gowell in a prepared statement. If it’s true, and we have little reason to doubt it, then we’ll likely see SilverRail adopted by even more rail systems in the coming years.

It’s obviously a huge market. While many regions--like Japan and much of Europe--already have extensive rail (and high speed rail) infrastructures in place, the attraction to rail has only grown stronger in recent years as auto and airline transportation are increasingly seen as burdens to not only consumers’ wallets but also the planet’s atmosphere. With efficiency equal to 700 miles per gallon, rail emits 90 percent less carbon dioxide than air travel, according to SilverRail.

In the big golden state where Silicon Valley calls home, the idea of a high speed rail connecting at least San Francisco and Los Angeles has been a dream for several years.

SilverRail, based in Boston and London, plans to use its new cash to expand capacity for new rail carrier inventory systems.