A still remote vision: cross-European train tickets avialable at any station (Photomontage, based on CC-BY-NC original from Bas Bogers/Flickr)
In her working plan accompanying her application speech in front of the EU Parliament Commission President Ursula von der Leyen did not really raise high ambitions about progress in transport GHG emissions in general or improvements of the European railway network in particular, but one promise was clearly made: Single-ticket rail travel across the continent:
Screenshot from the official video of the application speech on 18th July, 2024
“We will propose a Single Digital Booking and Ticketing Regulation, to ensure that Europeans can buy one single ticket on one single platform and get passengers’ rights for their whole trip.”
This is not the first attempt by her EU Commission to present a regulation (i.e. a law that is binding for all member states) to solve this problem. In 2023, Commissioner Valean announced a draft ‘Multimodal Digital Mobility Services Regulation’ (MDMS), which then disappeared from her agenda without further comment. Presumably, the goal of multimodality to also regulate ferries and local transport (among other things) was set too high. The fact that the new attempt lowered the threshold to regulate only rail transport was somewhat good news, as rail transport can fall back on ready-made standards such as NetEX for train data and OSDM for sales processes. This would make implementation less complex and increase the likelihood that it will take place in the foreseeable future.
Von der Leyen’s promise was written in the Briefing paper for the appointed Commissioner for Transport, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, and it was repeated by him in his presentation and fixed to a delivery date:
Screenshot from the official video of the hearing on 4th November, 2024
“I will present to you in the first year of my mandate a proposal for a Single Digital Booking and Ticketing Regulation.”
We missed these promises in the work plan for 2025 which the EU Commission presented on Feb 12th, in which neither a new regulation was mentioned in the EU’s actual work plan nor were the Single Digital Booking and Ticketing Regulation (SDBTR) and the Multimodal Digital Mobility Services Regulation (MDMS) from the last Commissions working plan listed among the 123 pending and 37 withdrawn proposals. However, the Annex did mention two other old proposals to re-regulate passenger rights from 2023, which can still be found as No. 14 and 15 of the pending proposalns in Annex 3 of the Agenda. The only new measures announced in the area of transport are the announcement of a non-legislative transport investment plan to improve the provision of a refuelling and recharging structure.
What happened? Did the new Commission want to limit itself to making road and air transport more sustainable rather than making rail more attractive? At least for the next year, it seems. That would have been a very, very bad start.
Easing the purchase of international train tickets is one of the six core strategies we identified in our position paper “How to get more night trains”. The other five obstacles are even more complicated to remove. So if the EU fails on this task, the likelihood that more obstacles might be removed is fading away. Time to act.
We did not want to give in on this demand and tried to mobilise together with our allies to get this task back on the agenda. As proposed here, some of our supporters wrote to Ursula von der Leyen on her contact form in their own (friendly) words and CC’ed the text in an e-mail to Transport Commissioner Tzitzikostas (cab-tzitzikostas-contact@ec.europa.eu), to remind them of the importance of her promise to us.
What happened since then:
We talked to other associations working on the issue and they reported that their contacts in the Commission confirmed they continue working on the ticketing issue.
Commissioner Tzitzikostas publicly confirmed his dedication to speed up single ticketing at the European Railway Award on Feb 17th.
On Feb 28th supporters officially received this answer by the Chairman of the Department C3 in the responsible Directorate DG MOVE on behalf of Ursula von der Leyen:
Thank you for your message to President von der Leyen of 13 February 2025. We fully understand the importance of improving multimodal ticketing to promote sustainable mobility and make train travel a more accessible and hassle-free option for all European citizens. We assume that your query refers to the absence of the Single Digital Booking and Ticketing Regulation (SDBTR) and the Multimodal Digital Mobility Services Regulation (MDMS) in the Commission Work Programme for 2025. The Commission Work Programme for 2022 included an MDMS initiative “to address market gaps in the combined use of transport modes, including rail”. As the SDBTR and the MDMS Regulation are a resubmission of what was proposed in the 2022 Work Programme and not a new initiative, it was not necessary to include them in the 2025 Work Programme. The Commission services are actively working to ensure that the proposals can be adopted in 2025. We understand the frustration many European travellers face when booking cross-border train journeys and remain committed to delivering on the commitments made in this area. The Commission continues to work towards a more integrated, user-friendly ticketing system that facilitates smooth multimodal travel within the EU.
The Commissions message has since then been clear and consistent: “Don’t worry, we didn’t forget this. Believe us, we’re working on it.” Obviously, the Commission did indeed forget these two proposals: the Single Digital Booking and Ticketing Regulation (SDBTR) and the Multimodal Digital Mobility Services Regulation (MDMS) – at least when setting up the Annex of the Work Programme 2025. Thank you, Commission, for clarifying this! Don’t take it personal, due to experience, we only believe what we see.
