England’s blanket ticket office closures met with widespread anger
Passenger train operators have proposed widespread closures to the majority of rail station ticket offices in England. Even in the age of online booking and smart cards, ticket offices remain at many main line stations,...Read more
Leading associations fear half-baked measures on EU ticketing regulation
10 European and international associations sent an open letter to European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans this Wednesday, after learning that the Commission is considering to downgrade its original ambition regarding upcoming regulation on ticketing....Read more
Rail market opening and Belgium: time for a discussion
While in Belgium SNCB is scheduled to receive a renewed concession for the next 10 years, the course from the European Commission in Brussels is instead to bring about more market opening on the railways,...Read more
Finland explores competition in passenger rail after 2030
With the current passenger rail service contracts expiring in 2030, publicly funded passenger rail traffic in Finland will need to be reorganised in 2031 to meet the European Union’s agreed-upon goals. The Finnish ministry of...Read more
SNCF to expand rail-road vehicle testing efforts in France
SNCF will be testing its Flexy rail-road vehicle in Brittany next year as part of an ongoing testing programme for the battery-powered people mover. Through a subsidiary, SNCF is also involved in the Ferromobile project,...Read more
Finland removes VAT from train tickets
As a temporary measure, Finland will reduce VAT on train and other public transport tickets from 10 per cent to zero from January 1 to April 30, 2023. Parliament decided on the course action as...Read more
Sqills pushes new boundaries as unit of Siemens Mobility
A little over one year ago, Siemens Mobility wrapped up the acquisition of Dutch company Sqills, a provider of SaaS inventory, reservation and ticketing software solutions. Company CEO and co-founder Bart van Munster looks back...Read more
Running trains amidst the war in Ukraine: ‘We are hell-bent on making trains run on time in times of chaos’
From a regular railway operator transporting people and goods, Ukrainian Railways became crucial in assisting the people of Ukraine via evacuations, transporting medical equipment, and by bringing foreign leaders into the country delivering their support....Read more
What can countries learn from Sweden when it comes to multi-modal ticketing?
Already a frontrunner in ticketing for public transport, Sweden will be the first country to have a nationwide ticket distribution system based on the Open Sales and Distribution Model (OSDM), developed by Estonian-based company Turnit....Read more
Booking platform Omio reports increase of cost of flying, while rail remains stable
“Ground transport prices have been stable while the cost of flying has increased”, says booking platform Omio in their EU Mobility Report. The company sees that the average amount consumers are spending for train bookings...Read more
CER and UIC: ‘in 2025 passengers will have a seamless user experience buying rail services’
A resolution to improve passenger experience when planning and booking international rail tickets was adopted at the High-Level Passenger Meeting in Prague by CER, UIC and the CEO of Czech Railways on October 6. To...Read more
Belgium pulls the plug on cross-border tram to the Netherlands, to the dismay of the Dutch
Not a new tram connection, but electric buses should improve public transport between Hasselt (Belgium) and Maastricht (the Netherlands). At least, that is what the Flemish government decided, though their Dutch colleagues are not too...Read more
FS Italiane presents 190 billion investment and restructure plan
FS Italiane has set up a 2022-2031 Industrial Plan, supported by an investment plan worth over 190 billion euros. The plans were presented in Rome on Monday by the President of FS Italiane, Nicoletta Giadrossi...Read more