Europe has set several primordial objectives in its policies which determine the revitalisation of railway transport and now tries to answer to challenges by launching many modernisation and extension projects next to the ones on the optimisation of passenger transport services. In the past years, the improvement of the passenger railway transport services has had a particular importance for the EU, but also for the organisations and companies involved in the activity of this sector, aiming at the provision of a safe, efficient and easy-to-access transport, and the main goal has been to contribute to the increase of the market share of railway transport, in relation with the other modes of transport. In fact, the efficiency and the quality of transport services will influence the choice of passengers. In the passenger railway sector, EU intends to triple the high-speed network length by 2050, which means a significant increase in the number of passengers.
According to statistical data, passenger railway traffic is increasing, but to attract a larger number, it is necessary to implement projects that answer mobility needs. The fact that for the passengers, the travel time, the comfort and the rapid ticketing systems, as well as the availability of information supply are the most important features in the choice of the transport mode, are not just suppositions anymore, but observations, as indicated in the surveys of the European Union. As regards the ticketing methods, 65% of the Europeans expect the implementation of more ticketing methods (e.g. online, via smartphones or on board), and by contrast, 17% don’t want more methods, mentions the Eurobarometer “Rail Competition”, published in September 2012. Under these circumstances, at the level of each state, the analyses indicate that the highest rate is identified in the Czech Republic (82%), Greece (77%) and Slovenia and Slovakia (with the same rate: 75%). By contrast, the lowest rate is registered in Portugal (51%) and Romania (54%). In the elaboration of the survey, respondents have been questioned about the importance of the opportunity of buying tickets and benefiting from information through one single point; this criterion matters for 75% of respondents.
Likewise, the opportunity to buy tickets and get information covering a whole journey through one single point matters to 75% of the respondents.
In order to improve the information related to journeys from departure to destination and to facilitate the choice of the adequate train and of intermodal journeys, as well as ticketing, the managers of the European railway companies agreed on launching a common project entitled “Full Service Model”. It will allow the provision of several options and information for passengers by using cutting-edge technologies in the field.
The project will be implemented with the ticketing services associations: ETTSA (European Technology and Travel Services Association), ECTAA (European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Associations) and GEBTA (Guild of European Business Travel Agents). “This agreement is a powerful signal given to European passengers. The railways are ready to embrace innovative technologies in order to enhance further their services. It also shows that European railway undertakings are proactively meeting the needs of their passengers and are ready to collaborate, going beyond re-gulatory constraints”, declared the CEO of SNCB Marc Descheemaecker.
The main goal of the project is to reinforce business partnerships by making it easier to display accurate and transparent data about available railway products, whilst respecting the commercial freedom about distribution channels and partners. The project will concentrate the specifications of functional requirements for an efficient IT infrastructure capable of improving the interoperability degree. Subsequently, the passengers will have a free and fast access to the information related to railway services through a diversity of distribution channels. The project will be initiated this autumn and will last until the end of 2014. CER will offer assistance in the implementation of the project. “With this decision, the European Passenger CEOs took a major commitment. This exciting endeavour, executed jointly with the ticket vendors will bring steep improvements to the way rail and intermodal journeys are distributed”, declared CER Executive Director Libor Lochman.
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