Booking international trains in Europe remains far more complicated than it should be, according to a new report by Transport & Environment, which found that one in five international rail routes analyzed cannot be purchased in a single transaction on the platforms of major operators.
The organization is calling for the upcoming European legislative package on ticketing to require operators and platforms to display and sell tickets on equal terms, so that passengers can purchase an end-to-end journey on a single platform.
The report analyzes the rail equivalent of some of the busiest air routes in the European Union and reaches a simple conclusion: trains are losing ground not only because of infrastructure or speed, but also because booking remains cumbersome, incomplete, and often opaque to passengers.
The problem arises even on the most important routes
For the 30 busiest international air routes in the EU that have a rail equivalent under 1,500 km, T&E shows that 20% cannot be booked at all “in one go” on the platforms of the major rail operators tested.
For another 27%, booking is possible only on one of the two platforms tested—either that of the operator in the country of departure or that of the operator in the country of arrival. Only 53% of routes can be booked in full on both tested booking engines.
As the analysis is expanded to 83 routes across 21 Member States, the picture remains bleak for international travel. For these routes, 22% of connections cannot be booked at all via the platforms of the operators analyzed, and for another 28%, booking is possible only on one of the two tested platforms.
The longer the journey, the more difficult the booking
One of the most interesting findings of the report is that, for traditional rail operators, the ability to book a trip decreases as the distance increases.
For international routes under 900 km, booking is successful in 80% of cases on the websites of the operators analyzed. For those over 900 km, the percentage drops to just 48%.
In contrast, independent platforms perform better over long distances: for routes over 900 km, they allow full booking in 77% of cases. The report also notes that the average distance of bookable trips is greater on independent platforms than on those of traditional operators.
Independent platforms help, but can be much more expensive
The fact that independent platforms offer more options does not automatically mean they are more advantageous for passengers. T&E shows that prices can vary greatly from one platform to another, and some examples in the report indicate differences of up to six times for the same trip.
In the case study included in the report, certain special offers from operators do not appear on all independent platforms, meaning passengers may pay much more without knowing that cheaper options exist. T&E says this lack of transparency directly affects access to the best fares.
Operators do not sufficiently display competitors’ tickets
The report also criticizes how major operators manage their own platforms. According to T&E, on 59% of the segments analyzed, incumbent operators do not display competitors’ services on the same route at all. The actual sale of competitors’ tickets is even rarer: it occurs on only 14% of segments.
The organization argues that this practice prevents passengers from easily comparing available options and, in some cases, leaves them unaware of trains that are cheaper than those offered by the dominant operator.
One example cited in the report is the Madrid–Barcelona route, where tickets offered by Ouigo and Iryo are, on average, about a third cheaper than those of Renfe, but do not appear on the Renfe platform.
The booking problem strikes precisely where air travel dominates
T&E directly links these difficulties to competition between rail and air travel. The report shows that routes where rail booking is impossible or incomplete correspond to an equivalent air traffic of 157,000 flights and 1.9 million tons of CO2. In other words, where the train could better compete with the plane, the ticketing system holds it back.
Stricter EU-wide rules
Based on these findings, T&E is calling for future European ticketing regulations to require rail operators and dominant platforms to display and sell all available services, including competitors’ offers, under FRAND terms—that is, fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory. The organization also calls for broader sharing of data on fares, delays, cancellations, and passenger amenities.
The report’s core message is clear: in Europe, the issue is no longer just the existence of trains, but also how they can be found, compared, and purchased. And as long as booking remains cumbersome and fragmented, air travel continues to enjoy an advantage that rail loses before the passenger even arrives at the station.
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