Streamlined international rail travel on the horizon
Europe-widetrain travel set to become more seamless with DB's ticket sales expansion
From autumn 2025, purchasingtickets for cross-border train journeys throughout Europe will be made simpler as German Railway (DB) connects to a technical interface intended to unify the previously fragmented system. By the end of 2026, DB promises to sell "tickets from all major railways in our neighboring countries directly via bahn.de and the DB Navigator app."
The anticipated integration of the Open Sales and Distribution Model (OSDM) interface standard in European railways aims to improve the cross-border travel experience by tackling several longstanding issues. Key benefits include:
- Unified booking: Passengers will be able to reserve tickets for journeys across various countries in a single step through familiar booking channels, without the hassle of visiting multiple platforms.
- Comprehensive ticket portfolio: By gaining access to a wide range of tickets from international partners, rail operators can offer customers more options and potentially lower prices.
- Direct price information: Encouraging transparency, passengers will receive direct pricing information for entire cross-border trips.
- Enhanced passenger communication: Real-time updates will be provided to passengers during their journey, improving the overall travel experience.
- Simplified regional transport: Acquiring tickets for regional transport abroad will become easier and more efficient.
Despite the promising improvements, challenges remain. Implementation complexities and costs may pose challenges for new market entrants, while overcoming infrastructure, regulatory, and coordination hurdles is essential to ensure the progress continues. The European Commission is preparing legislative proposals for standardized digital booking and ticket services, aiming to provide passengers with transport rights and a consistent booking experience across multiple service providers.
Despite the anticipated changes, Matthias Gastel, a Green Party politician with rail experience, cautions that progress has been slow and that cross-border train travel will remain laborious. He stresses that the introduction of a different standard than OSDM by the EU Commission could potentially disrupt ongoing efforts to streamline the European railway network.
Despite this, DB board member Michael Peterson remains optimistic, "We share the same goals as the EU Commission, and I have no fears about what they want to regulate." He emphasizes that the initiative will make international train travel easier and more convenient for passengers, while increasing competition in the rail sector.
Source: ntv.de, mau/dpa
- German Rail
- Europe
- Transport Policy
- Consumer Protection
German Rail's integration of the Open Sales and Distribution Model (OSDM) aims to streamline European cross-border train travel by 2026. This policy includes unified booking, comprehensive ticket portfolios, direct price information, enhanced passenger communication, and simplified regional transport. However, challenges such as implementation complexities, costs, infrastructure, regulatory, and coordination issues persist, necessitating the European Commission's proposed legislative measures for standardized digital booking and ticket services, ensuring consumer protection and a consistent booking experience.
