Cross-border rights & ticketing are broken. We have a plan to fix it.
Freedom of movement and the ability to seamlessly cross borders are fundamental to the European project. But there are two big hurdles for those who want to choose rail for those cross-border journeys: a lack of passenger rights and a lack of easy ticketing.
If we want more people to consider rail they need to know that their rights – like rerouting in cases of a missed connection and delay compensation – will be guaranteed. And to make it possible for them to actually choose rail they need to be able to find and purchase the tickets they need to get from A to B, even if it involves multiple operators from different countries.
The good news is that the politicians in Brussels are aware of the problem. They have already announced that they will be taking up legislative proposals to address both of these issues. We are expecting the first draft of the potential new laws in the next few months. The bad news is that there is no guarantee that the approach they adopt will address the challenges that passengers actually face, or even that they will ultimately enact anything at all. It’s always easier to listen to those who would prefer that as little as possible changes. That is where we come in.
Join us and add your voice!
We know what passengers need, and we have a plan to make it happen.
As passengers we know what solutions will actually make a difference. We have written a detailed policy report outlining what we need from these legislative initiatives for them to have a real impact. It comes down to three key points:
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Full rights need to apply to any journey as long as all transfers respect minimum connection times, regardless of the number or nature of the tickets or transactions.
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Minimum connection times must be set neutrally and be made publicly available.
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An obligation on all railway undertakings to make their full inventory available for resale under fair terms.
You can read the full report here.
But we also know that just writing a policy report isn’t enough.
The final legislation will be shaped by fierce debate and lobbying in Brussels. It is vital that our voices, the voices of passengers, are a part of that process. We don’t have a large war chest backing a cadre of professional lobbyists. To succeed we need you to add your voice to this campaign.
