One trip, one ticket: New EU rules aim to ease train travel

"The EU plans to force railway companies operating across the bloc to sell rivals' tickets on their websites and share data with booking platforms, under new rules that are intended to boost train travel. Brussels said the move, which is fiercely opposed by operators, would make journeys more seamless, helping passengers to find, compare and buy tickets in one go."

"The European Commission wants to improve rail connection across Europe to cut carbon emissions from air transport. But the goal has long rubbed up against a fragmented network broken into national systems that critics say create hurdles and push up costs. Passengers often have to buy tickets from different operators to patch together a multi-country trip."

"To change that the commission proposed obliging rail operators to make their tickets available to all online platforms that want to sell them. Undertakings that hold at least 50 percent of a national market would also have to display on their websites all services run in their country by competitors and sell the related tickets if clients want them."

"The Community of European Railways (CER) lobby group slammed the idea as an unprecedented' regulatory overreach. I'm not aware of any case where somebody is obliged to sell the product of a competitor. Think about Lufthansa obliged to sell Ryanair, flights, CER head Alberto Mazzola told AFP."

The EU plans new rail rules to make travel across all 27 member states simpler and more passenger friendly. The measures aim to improve rail connections across Europe and reduce carbon emissions from air travel. A fragmented rail network and national systems often force passengers to buy tickets from multiple operators to complete multi-country journeys. The European Commission proposes obliging rail operators to make their tickets available to all online platforms that want to sell them. Operators holding at least 50 percent of a national market would also have to list competitors’ services on their websites and sell related tickets if customers request them. Operators oppose the plan, arguing it would be an unprecedented regulatory overreach and could face approval hurdles from member states.

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