The train whizzes past mountain landscapes, deep valleys and grazing cows, while you enjoy the view from your window seat. If you visit Italy, Austria or Slovenia by train, you can experience some of Europe’s most beautiful landscapes, while sitting safely in a train carriage. But it can also be difficult, expensive and not least time-consuming. If you are traveling by plane, it is easy to find routes and prices. But it is more difficult by train. There is no website or app, as there is for flights, where you can get a full overview of train departures to buy a ticket for e.g. from Copenhagen to Lisbon. This despite the fact that the train is the most climate-friendly form of transport for traveling on long journeys. – What we definitely need in Europe, according to us, is a system, some digital platform that gives passengers the opportunity to take the train from one railway station to another somewhere else in the EU, says Nick Brooks. He is general secretary of Allrail, a collaboration of independent passenger train companies, which works as an organization to create more transparency among railway companies in Europe. – When you travel by train through Europe, you have to change trains more often than when you travel by plane, drive a car or take the bus, he says. Most journeys will involve more than one railway company, which is yet another reason why a ticketing platform is needed. He is not alone in that point of view. This summer, the German politician Ursula von der Lyen was re-elected as head of the European Commission for five new years, and in that connection she drew up a political work plan for her upcoming leadership period. – Train journeys across borders are still difficult for many residents. It should be possible for people to use open booking systems to buy trans-European travel, it writes. Data must be shared If you are going on holiday by plane, it is easy to find websites that offer a good overview of many different routes and departures to get to the destination you are going to, and you will know the price straight away on these websites. But if you are going to travel by train, you will have to navigate through various websites yourself and put together your own itinerary. And if your train in Germany is so delayed that you miss your departure in France, you have no guarantee of getting a new ticket – because you bought the tickets from two different companies. At the same time, trains are far more climate-friendly than planes. In total, transport accounts for a quarter of the EU’s CO2 emissions, and most of it comes from road transport. 13 percent come from airplanes and only 0.4 percent come from trains. Trains are generally one of the most energy-efficient means of transport according to the international energy agency IEA, and in general the CO2 emissions per kilometer driven by train are only one fifth of the emissions from air travel – and if the trains run on electricity, it’s even greener. But that in itself is not enough to make European train journeys easier and to ensure a trans-European ticket system. According to Nick Brooks, one of the reasons is that the many different train operators in Europe are not interested in sharing data with others. – More than 95 per cent of passengers at state-owned railway companies, such as DSB, are domestic passengers. So their purpose has historically been domestic travel. Therefore, Europe is fragmented in a way, because there are many different national railway networks, says Brooks. – It is necessary for the train companies to share their data, which is not happening at this time. Prices must also come down When the Danish member of parliament Per Clausen stood as Enhedslisten’s front candidate for the European Parliament elections in June, one of his core issues was to make it easier and cheaper to take the train through Europe. He also points out that it is a big task to optimize the European train options. – What von der Lyen has said is mostly that it should be easier to buy tickets. But there are also two other challenges. It’s about making the infrastructure work and the price level, he says. – It will be necessary to establish a fund or to use some of the existing funds and funds to support the transport operation called train operation. Both so that it becomes an alternative to air traffic in the European immediate area, but also to make it an attractive alternative to car transport, he believes. Those problems do not affect von der Lyen’s proposal to make it easier to buy train tickets. But he adds: – The positive thing is, of course, that the discussion is open, when the commission leader says that there is something we need to talk about. For us, then, it’s all about getting to grips with the discussion. Making life better for Europeans There is a long way to go from the European Commission making a proposal to its adoption. It must be approved in the European Parliament, where the elected members sit and with the various heads of state in the EU, before the law is on the table. It is not the first time the subject has been discussed, it has been on the EU’s agenda before without great results. – Even though it is on the work plan, it does not mean that she can introduce it. Any initiative like this must be approved by all three parts of the European political system, explains Nick Brooks. He is cautiously optimistic, but still says: – The European members have been voted in to improve the lives of the European citizens. They cannot make national legislation, only legislation across Europe. This is something they can adopt. They can show it off in five years and say “look, I achieved something as a member of the European Parliament. Here is a pan-European ticketing system”. So I’m crossing my fingers that it’s something they’ll support. And Per Clausen is crossing his fingers for the same. – When you look at the composition of the commission and the parliament, you can easily become somewhat worried. But on the other hand, both in relation to the climate and problems with overcrowding, the task of lifting train traffic should be important for everyone. So that’s why I think it can be done.
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Expert: The train companies must share more data for transport in Europe to run smoothly
