The study, conducted by the environmental think tank T&E, examined 30 of the EU's busiest aviation routes and found that nearly half are hard or impossible to book as a single rail journey. Specifically, 20% of the international routes studied cannot be booked in one go from major rail companies' booking platforms, T&E said. A further 27% of routes are only bookable from one of the two booking engines tested, and more than half of the journeys above 900km studied cannot be made as a single booking.
Specific examples illustrate the problem. It is impossible to book a single rail journey from Barcelona to Paris on Renfe's website, even though more than 15,000 flights operate annually between the two cities, according to T&E. French rail operator SNCF does not show or sell Trenitalia tickets for routes such as Paris to Lyon. Popular routes such as Lisbon to Madrid or Barcelona to Milan could not be booked from any rail operator's website, while cross-border services such as Paris to Rome and Amsterdam to Milan could only be booked from one of the operators.
On more than half of the routes analysed, rail operators do not display all available journeys including competitors' tickets. This practice not only prevents passengers from easily comparing and booking the most suitable services on the same route, but also keeps them unaware of the very existence of these alternatives, even though they may be cheaper than those offered by incumbent operators.
Passengers are frustrated by the complexity. A YouGov survey commissioned by T&E found that 61% of long-distance rail passengers have at least once avoided journeys because the booking process is perceived as a hassle. The European Commission plans to publish its single ticketing plan in mid May, according to The Local Sweden, as part of a new effort to simplify cross-border train travel.
T&E recommends that rail companies should show and sell tickets for services run by rivals and share key data on cancellations and delays. The group calls for new EU regulations to maximise rail travel and reduce transport emissions with a Single Ticketing Package. "On more than half of the routes analysed, rail operators do not display all available journeys including competitors' tickets," T&E said in a press release. "This practice not only prevents passengers from easily comparing and booking the most suitable services on the same route, but also keeps them unaware of the very existence of these alternatives, even though they may be cheaper than those offered by incumbent operators."
20 percent of the international routes we studied cannot be booked in one go from major rail companies booking platforms, even though these routes are frequented by thousands of flights, emitting thousands of tonnes of CO2 every year.