EU proposes end to ‘five tabs, three apps and a prayer’ for cross-border train bookings

Cross-border train journeys through several European countries are the stuff of many a holidaymaker’s dreams.

But the reality of trying to buy the tickets, navigating multiple websites without knowing who can help if a connection is missed, can prove less than relaxing. As one MEP puts it, it can often require “five tabs, three apps and a prayer”.

Now, however, the European Commission has proposed that before the end of the decade passengers should be able to buy one ticket for one journey and be better protected when trains are late or cancelled.

“Europeans will be able with the click of a button to plan, compare and purchase multimodal journeys across borders while benefiting from stronger rail passenger rights, greater transparency and better protection every step of the way,” the EU transport commissioner, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, said on Wednesday, as he published new rules intended to transform the “excessively complex” experience he said rail travellers met when booking tickets.

Asked about the timing, he said: “Before the end of this commission mandate [in 2029] we will have this new era of rail on the ground working.”

Under the plans, major railway companies, such as Deutsche Bahn, SNCF and Trenitalia, would be forced to sell competitors’ tickets on their websites, and share data with booking platforms enabling an offer of single tickets for long cross-border journeys.

In an expansion of consumer protection laws, passengers would be entitled to help in the event of a missed connection: the operator that caused the delay would ensure the passenger has the right to hop on the next train, or reimbursement, food and accommodation, depending on the circumstances.

Passengers would be entitled to help in the event of a missed connection in an expansion of consumer protection laws.
Photograph: parkerphotography/Alamy

The plans have to be agreed by EU member states and the European parliament before they become law, and they already face stiff opposition from train operators. The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) said: “Underneath the surface of this rosy vision lies unprecedented and unjustified regulatory interventionism.”

The CER said the rail tickets market “largely meets” customer expectations, citing where 73% of people said it was easy to book two or more connecting trains for one journey. But the same survey also found 43% of total respondents had not booked such journeys.