Cross-border train travel to become easier with EU-wide booking system

A unified rail booking system is expected to launch across Europe to simplify cross-border train travel. The new system, introduced by the European Commission and likely to be ready by 2029, may also reduce ticket prices.

EU-wide train booking system to launch by 2029

Planning a train journey through multiple European countries can be a nightmare, so much so that studies have found it actually deters travellers from choosing the train. Booking systems and prices vary widely from country to country, and it is often unclear who is responsible if your Dutch train is late and you miss your connection to Italy, for example.

In an effort to make long-distance, cross-border train travel in Europe more appealing, the European Commission plans to iron out these impracticalities with a more unified booking system.

According to the plan, Europe’s major rail companies, such as NS, Deutsche Bahn, Trenitalia, SBB and SNCF, will be obliged to sell competitors’ tickets on their websites and share data with external booking platforms.

For example, if you go to the NS website to book a ticket from Amsterdam to Milan, your search results may include services run by Germany’s Deutsche Bahn, Austria’s ÖBB or Italy’s Trenitalia. It will therefore be easier to see which operator has the best deal.

“Passengers will be able to [...] purchase services combined from different rail operators into one single ticket, which can be bought in one transaction on a ticketing platform of their choice,” a press release explained. This could also be an independent booking platform, such as Trainline.

Tzitzikostas says new system will cut ticket prices

EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said the new system was “100 percent pragmatic” and will ensure passengers have greater transparency, stronger rights and better protection “every step of the way”.

Head of the European Consumers Organisation, Agustín Reyna, said the new system would “go a long way to making [booking] easier, by opening up sales on more platforms”. 

The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) is more sceptical, and said the changes would empower large tech companies, including US-operated booking giants, to “dictate higher distribution fees and drive up ticket prices”.

When it comes to passenger rights, if a rail company runs a delayed service, it will be responsible for rerouting or reimbursing passengers, including providing overnight accommodation or food if journeys are significantly disrupted.

There will also be more flexibility for delayed passengers to take the next possible train without buying an additional ticket. 

Overall, Tzitzikostas predicts that the new system will reduce long-distance train ticket prices due to greater competition between operators and greater transparency for passengers. “As booking becomes simpler, we expect more Europeans to choose rail more often,” the commissioner said.

EU pushing for more international train travel

According to a 2025 study by the University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten in Austria, booking a train journey in Europe takes an average of 70 percent longer than booking a flight. 

A 2025 Greenpeace study of 142 routes across 31 European countries also found that booking a flight was cheaper than booking a train on 54 percent of the 109 cross-border journeys analysed.

Currently, only around 8 percent of European travel is done by train. While passengers have long seen long-distance train travel as more time-consuming, uncertain and expensive, the EU wants to significantly increase the number of international rail passengers by 2050, and the new booking system is part of plans to achieve this.