Streamlining Global Train Ticket Buys for Smoother Travel Experiences - Partially in Effect This Year - Simplified purchasing process for global train tickets, with initial changes set for this year.
Deutsche Bahn (DB), Germany's national railway company, aims to simplify international train travel with a more seamless ticket purchasing process. The initiative is driven by the Open Sales and Distribution Model (OSDM), an EU-endorsed technical standard, set to facilitate digital access to ticketing data across various European rail operators.
This API-based framework will enable passengers to book cross-border journeys as effortlessly as domestic ones, all through DB channels such as its website and the DB Navigator app. The goal is to provide a unified booking experience, allowing passengers to search, compare, and purchase tickets for major European railways within a single transaction, even for trips requiring transfers between operators.
Once the new system is implemented, the complexities of navigating multiple national platforms and purchasing separate tickets from each operator will be a thing of the past. In addition, tickets from participating railways will be drafted together, offering a seamless booking process and itinerary management.
DB plans to start the rollout of this new digital infrastructure and OSDM integration in autumn 2025, with the ambition to provide integrated ticketing for virtually all major European railways by the end of 2026. The current coverage of over 96% of rail traffic in Europe under the OSDM indicates substantial technical readiness among participating operators.
By the end of next year, travelers will have the convenience of booking tickets for cross-border trips, such as from Rome's airport to its main station or from Bordeaux to Arcachon on the French Atlantic coast, directly through DB channels. The initiative marks a significant step towards truly seamless cross-border rail travel in Europe, supported by unified digital systems and regulatory backing from the EU.
The Community guarantee granted by the Commission to the EIB for the financing of the EIB's operations in the field of research and technological development could potentially be used to develop advanced technology for seamless ticketing and lifestyle enhancements in international train travel, such as the one Deutsche Bahn is pursuing. This technology-driven lifestyle change may provide travelers with a unified booking experience resembling their domestic travel, including seamless itinerary management for cross-border journeys.
