The European Commission wants to simplify the purchase of tickets for rail journeys operated by multiple carriers. Under the new rules, passengers would be able to buy one ticket for an entire route, including journeys involving transfers and international connections, while also benefiting from broader protection in the event of delays or cancellations. At regional level, such solutions have already been operating successfully for years. The issue that still needs to be addressed is the punctuality of services. Poland performs well in this respect, while the situation is much worse, for example, in neighbouring Germany.
“Single ticketing, or one common European ticket, will be a major revolution, similar to roaming in mobile telephony. We will be able to board a train in Kutno, Łódź or Warsaw and travel to any place in Europe that is accessible by rail, using one ticket. Even if we have to change trains once or twice, we will still be able to complete the journey on the same ticket,” Dariusz Joński, a Member of the European Parliament from the Civic Coalition and a member of the Parliament’s Transport Committee, told Newseria. “We will be able to buy such a ticket on one common platform.”
In May, the European Commission proposed new rules intended to simplify the planning and booking of tickets for regional, long-distance and cross-border journeys, particularly rail journeys operated by several different companies, while also providing better passenger protection. The Commission points out that booking journeys which require passengers to buy tickets from different operators can currently be complicated. The same applies to trips combining different modes of transport. Booking systems are fragmented, and it is difficult to find the best offer. In addition, passenger protection in such situations is limited. The new rules are intended to remove these inconveniences.
“What is more, we will also have passenger rights. It will be somewhat similar to aviation: if a plane is delayed, does not arrive, or the flight is cancelled altogether, the passenger can expect compensation. In the case of journeys involving several transfers, it matters whether the train is delayed or arrives on time,” said Dariusz Joński. “All of this has been proposed by the European Commission, and we in the Transport Committee are starting work in June because we want to move forward as quickly as possible. The main railway companies in Europe have already reached an agreement, which took the longest time, because they will settle accounts among themselves. The passenger will not have to worry about that. They will only need to go to the website, book, pay and travel.”
According to the Eurobarometer survey “Multimodal Digital Mobility Services 2025”, more than three quarters of Europeans surveyed book tickets online. Some 36% of respondents say they have difficulties booking multimodal tickets, meaning tickets that combine different modes of transport, such as air and rail or train and bus. Overall, 31% have not booked such journeys because of the complexity of the booking process and the lack of clear, user-friendly options. A quarter of respondents said they had difficulty booking rail tickets involving multiple operators, while 43% do not book such journeys at all. More than one fifth of respondents report that online ticketing systems do not always display all available fares or travel options.
One of the key issues to be resolved at European level remains the punctuality of rail services. This is particularly important when a journey requires several transfers. According to data from the European Railway Atlas, railways in 22 out of 28 countries surveyed, including EU countries and the United Kingdom, record passenger train punctuality above 80%, while 11 countries exceed 90%. Poland is among the countries with high punctuality, at around 85%. Romania performs worst in this respect, with punctuality below 60%. Germany, meanwhile, records 75% punctuality.
“After the pandemic, Germany has not been able to restore punctuality. Every carrier will be assessed, so each will want to do everything possible to avoid paying compensation, because that would generate additional costs. To avoid paying compensation, they have to run on time. I observe Polish Intercity services, but also ordinary regional and domestic transport, and I can see that they are becoming increasingly punctual,” the MEP noted.
The idea of combining different rail services into one ticket is not new. In Poland, this already exists at national and local level. In the Warsaw metropolitan area, the joint ZTM-KM-WKD ticket allows passengers to travel on Koleje Mazowieckie trains, Warsaw Commuter Railway trains and ZTM vehicles — including the metro, buses, trams and urban rapid rail — using one season ticket. In March this year, PKP and Pomeranian carriers signed an agreement on a single joint ticket for long-distance and local trains in Pomerania, covering SKM Trójmiasto, PKP Intercity and PolRegio. Since 2018, rail passengers across Poland have also been able to use the Common Ticket, which combines the offers of 10 carriers operating long-distance, regional and suburban services, including PKP Intercity, Polregio, Koleje Mazowieckie and PKP SKM in the Tricity area.
“We expect to connect to high-speed rail so that we can travel even faster. All of this is now happening before our eyes. The European Union is focusing on high-speed rail so that by 2040 all capitals in Europe will be connected by rail,” Dariusz Joński added.
A study conducted by the Office of Rail Transport shows that attractive ticket prices are cited by almost 32% of people as a factor encouraging them to travel by train. Higher in the ranking were travel comfort, mentioned by 45% of respondents; the possibility of using discounts, indicated by almost 39%; and competitive travel time compared with other means of transport, cited by almost 34%. The factors that discourage passengers the most are delays, mentioned by 72%, and an inconvenient transport offer, indicated by 34%.
“Last year, we had a record on the railways — 409 million passengers. This year, we will exceed 450 million passengers. These are incredible figures. Poles have fallen in love with rail again, and the pandemic contributed to this to some extent, as did rising fuel prices. But it must also be said honestly that today stations, platforms and rail services are better adapted. The only thing we lack is rolling stock. Tickets for the Warsaw–Łódź–Wrocław train are sold out a week in advance, so we should be thinking about adding more trainsets, but they first have to be ordered. Our companies, whether in Nowy Sącz or Bydgoszcz, have orders scheduled for several years ahead. We are going to see remarkable development of Polish railways. We will be able to travel from Łódź to Warsaw in 35 minutes, from Warsaw to the airport in 15 minutes, from Łódź to the airport in 25 minutes, and not much longer — around less than an hour — to Poznań or Wrocław,” the MEP argued. “Airlines will no longer be able to compete with that in any way.”
