The European Commission is requesting input from citizens and stakeholders on a planned targeted revision of the Rail Passenger Rights Regulation. The legislation covers the protection of passengers travelling by rail in the EU and grants them several rights linked to travel disruptions during their journey, including the right to reimbursement, re-routing, assistance and compensation.
Originally introduced in 2007 and last revised in 2021, the Regulation has helped achieve a high level of consumer protection for rail transport. Among other things, the 2021 revision obliged rail companies qualifying as a ‘sole undertaking’ to offer ‘through-tickets’, meaning that should passengers miss a connection between rail services covered by this ticket, they are protected.
However, in her Political Guidelines, President von der Leyen highlighted that cross-border train travel is still too difficult for many citizens. She proposed an initiative to ensure that Europeans can buy one single ticket via a single platform and be covered by passenger rights for their entire trip.
The Commission is considering an update to the Rail Passenger Rights Regulation to ensure that passengers can effectively exercise their rights when they miss a connection on a train journey involving multiple rail operators – provided the journey was purchased as part of a single transaction on a ticket platform. This initiative is closely linked to the upcoming proposals on multimodal digital mobility services and single digital booking & ticketing.
The call for evidence is available on the Commission’s Have your Say’ portal, in all official EU languages. Those wishing to respond should do so by 22 September 2025.
