Planning a Train Trip in Europe? New Sleeper Trains and High-Speed Routes Await.
2 min read
Also in the works: streamlined digital booking and Eurostar competition.
European passenger rail travel continues to expand, with a flurry of new routes opening and competition heating up on key routes, including on the rail line that runs below the English Channel. Plans to streamline the booking process across Europe could also make rail travel easier and more efficient.
The European Commission is encouraging the push. At his confirmation hearing in November, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the new European commissioner for sustainable transport and tourism, said that connecting European cities by high-speed rail is “a top priority.” He also vowed to present draft regulation for a single digital booking and ticketing system for European rail before the end of his first year in office, which will fall on Dec. 1.
Demand for train travel is strong and growing. Cross-border passenger rail traffic within Europe increased 7 percent in 2024 compared to 2023, according to the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies, a Brussels-based industry group. Passenger rail traffic within individual countries increased by about 3 percent.
Victor Thévenet, the rail policy manager at Transport and Environment, a Brussels-based environmental group, described the possibility of a single booking and ticketing system as “the big thing on the agenda in 2025.”
“In a single ticket, you will be able to buy a journey that links different train operators, and you will be sure to have your passenger rights protected if something goes wrong during the journey,” Mr. Thévenet said, noting that the system would work for all long-distance and regional trains across Europe. He added that public consultations on such a plan are happening this year, and that the proposed legislation should go to the European Parliament in 2026.
