New EU rail regulations are good news for travellers, argues Attila Fodor, head of EU regulatory affairs at eDreams ODIGEO
Article 10 of the EU Rail Passenger Rights Regulations, which came into effect in June, mandates that rail companies must make real-time travel data accessible to independent ticket vendors.
This was a significant moment for traveller choice and for our ambitions to decarbonise the transport network. This needs to be the start of a journey towards a smarter, more sustainable transport system grounded in consumer choice and multi-modality.
Rail has long been the preferred choice of domestic travel in the UK, with 42% of travellers stating they prefer rail travel over other modes of transport.
International rail is seeing a renaissance in Europe with new routes, sleeper services and direct lines to Europe’s biggest ski resorts.
While the romanticism of travelling Europe by train is an incentive in itself, there are other key factors that indicate the European rail sector should continue to grow.
UK travellers are looking for more sustainable ways to travel, with a 2022 poll by YouGov suggesting 72% consider the environment when they make travel choices.
Furthermore, 45% said they had changed their travel habits in the past year to be more environmentally friendly, while 60% of UK travellers expressed a willingness to pay more for sustainable travel options.
The industry has struggled to capitalise. The UK Department for Transport (DfT) reports that only 5.8 million passengers used the Channel Tunnel last year, down 73% from 2019 and half of the peak of more than 11 million in 2018.
The decline in journeys to Europe by train has been facilitated by passport difficulties post-Brexit, which has limited the number of trains able to cross the channel and seen Eurostar’s choice of destinations from London fall from 14 four years ago to five.
Average fare prices have risen significantly as a result, further impacting the competitiveness of the rail network.
However, an equally significant problem has been limited access to rail tickets across the EU, where tickets are not made available to independent retailers and are sometimes only marketed via single-operator monopolies.
Regulation finally catches up
The implementation of Article 10 is a watershed moment. It means travellers should now be able to include rail segments within multimodal itineraries when booking through specialist independent travel retailers on one platform.
In a world where convenience is king, this could have a significant impact on rail ticket uptake.
The benefits of this regulation will be widely felt. Healthy competition will keep a check on rail prices, but also prices across transport modes as customers are better able to assess their options holistically.
Furthermore, the changes will give travellers far greater agency when considering their carbon footprint. We can’t underestimate the impact increased choice could have in driving decarbonisation.
Also, as more people consider rail, this should cut the need for hire cars for onward travel from airports, driving further reductions in C02 emissions.
Access to rail tickets should also benefit EU nations and the rail operators which will enjoy higher levels of tourism and travellers using their networks.
With Europe still by far the most popular destination for UK tourists, an added bonus of better access to EU rail tickets is the potential for a rejuvenation of cross-channel rail travel, with UK consumers able to access the entire European rail network far more easily.
Perhaps we will even see a renaissance of European interrailing, which was almost a right of passage for younger UK travellers in decades past?
Kick-starting an era of smarter travel
It is essential the EU strictly enforces Article 10 for the benefit of consumers and the environment. But it is even more critical we see this as the start of a process of developing a more sustainable transport network, based on the fundamental principles of customer choice and multi-modality.
Beyond Article 10, the EU’s Multimodal Digital Mobility Services legislation aims to expand these principles for all transport modes. This is a critical opportunity to promote increased consumer choice for the benefit of travellers and the environment.
The headlines around decarbonising travel have often come from other initiatives, such as the search for alternative aviation fuel. But multimodality in travel retailing needs to be just as prominent.
Decarbonisation is as much about behavioural change as about technological advancement.
We know customers want to make more environmentally smart choices. A smarter 21st Century transportation system will rely on industry and policymakers making this a key focus in the months and years ahead.
Attila Fodor is head of EU regulatory affairs at eDreams ODIGEO