Brussels proposes single system for booking international train and bus tickets within Europe

Travelling within the EU by plane is easy, but for those who want to travel by train or bus, the process is more complex. It involves consulting different websites and making multiple bookings.

The European Commission wants to simplify this process so that European passengers can purchase a ticket for an international and intermodal journey through a single website. To achieve this, Brussels presented a legislative package on Wednesday that would require major companies to offer all transport options on their websites.

"We want to reduce fragmentation between member states. Furthermore, if people have better connections, they are more likely to stay there," Deputy President of the European Commission Raffaele Fitto said.

Ultimately, the goal is to make the experience of buying tickets in Europe simpler and easier, with greater transparency regarding prices and travel rights.

Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas acknowledged that booking and comparing international ticket prices is currently "too complex". "We have a very good rail network, but we still don't have a simple travel experience for passengers," he stated.

This proposal eliminates barriers and aims to prevent people from having to visit multiple websites to book a train or bus trip. "We want a single ticket and for passengers to be fully protected in the event of something going wrong, a delay or a missed connection," Tzitzikostas said. The commissioner expects this proposal to come into effect within one or two years.

With this initiative, which will become mandatory 12 months after it comes into effect, the main national companies (Renfe in Spain, SNCF in France, Trenitalia, etc.) will have to offer passengers all possible connection options on their platforms and the option to book the entire journey through their websites.

Brussels also hopes that this proposal will help reduce travel prices and promote rail transport, which is more sustainable than air travel.