THE European Commission (EC) unveiled its Passenger Mobility Package on May 13, publishing three legislative proposals that are intended to simplify the process of booking tickets for cross-border journeys by rail, while at the same time strengthening consumer protection for passengers.
Under the ordinary legislative procedure, the proposals for a new regulation on rail ticketing, a new regulation on multimodal digital mobility services, and an amendment to the regulation on rail passenger rights will now be considered by the European Council and the European Parliament.
The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), which represents incumbent operators, has called on the Council and Parliament to carefully scrutinise the package, which it describes as “unprecedented and unjustified regulatory interventionism.” CER says that requiring operators to sell the products of their competitors and enter into distribution agreements with all platforms that request them are particularly problematic.
According to Apostolos Tzitzikostas, European commissioner for sustainable transport and tourism, ticketing platforms owned by major operators will need to sell tickets for competing rail services when other operators request it. As a first step, within 12 months after the new regulations enter into force, major rail ticketing platforms will have to display timetable information for all services within that country, including cross-border services.
Operators will also be required to make their ticketing data available to independent ticket vendors that wish to sell them. According to Tzitzikostas, this represents a major step forward for transparency and consumer choice, making it easier for passengers to find multimodal options.
CER says that such mandatory distribution agreements will remove leeway for operators in commercial negotiations, potentially leading to an unhealthy concentration of market power in the hands of the dominant platforms, which would be able to dictate higher distribution fees and drive up ticket prices.
Similarly, CER argues that obliging operators to sell the products of their competitors will directly impact commercial freedom, disincentivising innovation. Regulated commission fees for distribution through third-party vendors will further stifle innovation and introduce rigidity into what CER says is at present a dynamic market.
The Passenger Mobility Package intends to enable passengers to purchase a single through ticket for a rail journey involving different operators, which can be bought in one transaction on a ticketing platform of their choice. Passenger rights will be revised to give holders of such single tickets full protection, including assistance, rerouting, reimbursement and compensation.
According to CER, placing full responsibility on operators fails to recognise that this higher exposure to risk cannot be absorbed by their low profit margins. “To minimise the knock-on effect on ticket prices, liability must reside with the seller of the tickets and not the operators,” CER says.
“We share the Commission’s vision of seamless travel,” says CER executive director, Alberto Mazzola. “But regulation will not help achieve that vision any faster than the sector’s own initiatives and risks creating the very problems it intends to solve.”
In contrast, the package has been welcomed by Alliance of Passenger Rail New Entrants (AllRail), which says that it will provide passengers with full transparency, enabling them to compare, book and combine reasonable journeys across all operators. At present ticket sales remain fragmented along national lines, AllRail notes, creating powerful digital gatekeepers and preventing passengers from accessing all options.
“This proposal is a major step towards completing the Single European Railway Area and we look forward to engaging on the policy detail as it moves through the legislative process,” says AllRail secretary general, Nick Brooks.
