EU to force rail operators to sell tickets for rival services

Brussels seeks to replicate air travel bookings for trains, ferries and coaches

The EU will seek to force train ticket providers to display rivals’ offers and give greater protection to passengers in the event of cancellations.

Unveiling a set of proposals dubbed a “game changer” for rail travel, European commissioner for cohesion Raffaele Fitto said: “One thing air travel does well is it is simple. You search, you compare, you book in a matter of minutes. Rail passengers deserve the same experience.”

Passengers will be able to combine rail services purchased from different operators into a single ticket, purchased via one transaction. Services across different means of transport — from ferries to coaches — would also be included in the package.

The measure was first reported by the FT last week, when transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said the rules would address the “nightmare” of long-distance travel.

The European Commission seeks to make it easier for passengers to purchase tickets online, addressing a “significant structural weakness”, the regulation states. Railway operators with half or more of market share in national railway services will be obliged to open their online ticketing services to any other operator.

This will impact operators such as France’s SNCF, Spain’s Renfe and Germany’s Deutsche Bahn in their national markets, forcing them to offer rivals’ services on their online platforms.

Catriona Meehan, from online booking service Omio, called it a “welcome step towards making rail easier to access and use for passengers across Europe”.

She added: “Too often, fragmented data and ticketing still make it harder than it should be to search, compare and book journeys, even where good services exist.”

She said the new rules must focus on allowing data access for all providers, including independent retailers, to avoid the measures “entrenching nationally concentrated models that limit choice”.

But Jon Worth, an independent European railways analyst, said the proposals were “both radical and far-reaching, but also unworkable”.

It places a “heavy burden on the shoulders of railway companies” by requiring them to offer tickets months in advance, while also harming season ticket holders, who may lose their discounts if they buy a newer, unified ticket that better protects their rights in the event of disruption.

Georgia Whitaker, from green research group Transport & Environment, said the rules were a “huge leap forward”, but added the EU needed to “increase the geographical scope of this commitment to ensure that the most frequently flown and driven routes are easily accessible for passengers to book by rail”.

Officials have dismissed concerns about opposition to the plans from national rail operators, noting that operators such as Renfe and SNCF were seeking to break into neighbouring national markets.

The proposal could benefit private companies such as new challengers in France like Kevin Speed and Velvet, and those offering specialised services like European Sleeper.

The measures will also ensure that passengers booking journeys with multiple legs across different providers have the same rights throughout the trip. Currently, passengers who miss connections due to delays can face “unequal treatment” across member states and operators and be left without the right to take the next available train in some cases.

The commission has drawn on studies showing that a third of citizens are unwilling to book journeys with several different modes of transport or operators, in part because of booking difficulties. The problem is most pronounced with rail tickets but also challenging with other forms of transport, the proposals state.