1 minute read / May 14, 2026
The European Commission has proposed new rules to make seamless travel across Europe a reality. The three proposals adopted simplify planning and booking for regional, long-distance and cross-border travel, particularly for rail journeys involving multiple operators, and ensure better protection for rail passengers for the entire journey.
At present, comparing all available travel options and identifying the most sustainable choices, especially for cross-border travel, remains difficult for passengers in the EU; especially for rail tickets. Many passengers encounter obstacles when combining different transport services. Booking multiple-leg train journeys involving tickets from different companies can be complex, largely due to fragmented booking systems and the very strong market presence of certain rail companies. Passenger protection is limited on rail journeys involving multiple tickets by different rail operators.
Today’s proposals address these obstacles, delivering on President Ursula von der Leyen‘s political guidelines.
To create a smoother travel experience for passengers and advance the EU’s climate objectives, the Commission proposes measures enabling single-ticket bookings across multiple rail operators, making the rail market more transparent and accessible. Passengers will be able to find, compare and 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. This can be an independent platform, or the rail operator’s ticketing service.
In the event of missed connections during multi-operator rail journeys, passengers with a single ticket will benefit from new, full passenger rights protection, including assistance, rerouting, reimbursement and compensation.
