If the European Commission has its way, there will be a single ticket for anyone wishing to travel by train across Europe. The measure, described as “a game-changer for rail travel” by European Commissioner for Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas, is intended to make cross-border travel on the continent easier.
For international train travel, passengers often still need to buy multiple tickets from different railway companies. As a result, in the event of a delay, they sometimes have no or limited entitlement to compensation and may have to buy a new ticket to continue their journey on a different train.
Complex logistical puzzle
Here’s a concrete example of why the current fragmented system is so frustrating and overly complicated: national rail companies protect their own markets and still don’t collaborate enough.
Suppose you want to book a train ticket from Brussels to Helsinki. On the websites of the Belgian railway company NMBS/SNCB, you buy your first ticket for Brussels-Cologne-Hamburg, which is possible because the NMBS//SNCB and Deutsche Bahn have bilateral agreements.
Next, you must make a second, separate booking with SJ, the Swedish railways, for the night train Hamburg to Stockholm or Hamburg-Copenhagen-Stockholm by day via Deutsche Bahn for the first part and then with SJ for the second part. Next, you’ll then need a ticket for the Stockholm-Helsinki night ferry, a separate booking via Tallink/Viking, outside the train network.
A single ticket, contract, and set of passenger rights are not possible. If your train to Hamburg is, say, 20 minutes late, and you consequently miss your connection to Stockholm, the reservations on your connecting train segments will be canceled, and you’ll have to buy new tickets – precisely because you have separate tickets from different companies and no single company is obligated to put you on the next train or reimburse you.
In other words, if you want to travel sustainably, you’ll need to set aside roughly 38 hours and figure out the logistics yourself; you have no protection in case of delays, whereas that is the case with air travel, and your Brussels-Helsinki flight ticket can be booked in 5 minutes for a flight lasting barely 2,5 hours.
Online sales platforms
The European Commission has now presented a new package of legislation designed to make it easier for rail travelers to book international train trips and to better protect rail passengers’ rights.
The Commission therefore wants railway companies to share their ticket prices and travel times with each other and with online sales platforms, so that travelers can search for, compare, and combine offers from different companies into a single ticket, which can be purchased in a single transaction on a platform of their choice. This could be an independent platform or the railway company’s own ticketing service.
Railway companies with a 50% market share will consequently be required to make their tickets available to independent online ticket services that wish to sell them. This should enable these platforms to offer passengers more travel options, including in combination with other modes of transport.
At the same time, major rail companies will also have to offer tickets from competing companies if those companies so desire, so that, for example, new entrants can more easily reach customers.
Specific passenger rights
The Commission is also introducing requirements for ticket platforms to display all transport options in a fair and neutral manner, using criteria such as price, travel time, departure time, and, where possible, greenhouse gas emissions as default settings.
The proposal also includes specific passenger rights. If a connection is missed during a train journey on a single ticket, the company responsible for the delay must offer travelers an alternative journey to their destination at no extra cost or refund the ticket. Depending on the situation, the company may also be required to pay compensation or provide meals or hotel accommodations.
The sector is not happy with the proposal
The idea – “A major step forward for transparency and consumer choice,” according to European Commissioner Tzitzikostas – is, however, meeting with resistance in the sector.
The European Railway Industry Association (CER) calls it “unprecedented interference” by the Commission. “I don’t know of a single case where anyone is forced to sell a competitor’s product. Imagine if Lufthansa were forced to sell Ryanair tickets,” criticizes Director Alberto Mazzola, although he fails to mention that rail infrastructure in Europe is largely publicly owned.
At the same time, CER warns that while profit-driven digital platforms are given free rein to dominate ticket sales, the railways will bear the actual costs and be held responsible, with inevitable consequences for ticket prices.
Tzitzikostas understands the “frustration,” but he is confident that his proposal will lower ticket prices and lead to a 5% increase in passenger numbers.
The member states and the European Parliament must now consider the proposal. Once they reach an agreement, the companies will have one year to comply. There appears to be strong support for the proposal in Parliament, and if everything goes as planned, this reform is expected to take effect in early 2029.
