WRITTEN QUESTION E-2035/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(10 July 2002)

Subject: Refusal to make seat reservations for trains going to foreign destinations for which national railway companies do not sell tickets

1. Can the Commission confirm that in spite of the lack of coordination between ticket sales and reservations (see previous series of questions on the inconvenience caused by the separate systems) the European railway companies have agreed among themselves that they will no longer make seat or sleeper reservations for customers not buying train tickets at the same time or already in possession of a ticket? Does this mean that for all destinations and routes for which tickets are not sold in the country of departure it will no longer be possible to reserve seats, sleepers or couchettes?

2. Is the Commission aware that railway companies make access to night trains subject not only to payment of a sleeper or couchette ticket, but also frequently to additional requirements as regards the rail ticket, such as payment for a sometimes longer journey or possession of a first-class ticket for access to certain types of sleeper, and that they refuse to refund these additional costs when, because of delays or unavailability of the scheduled carriage, the journey is made via a shorter route or in a less comfortable sleeping car?

3. Does the Commission agree with me that this approach is not customer-friendly and contrary to the spirit of its White Paper is likely to discourage the use of trains, particularly night trains, for long journeys in Europe, since it is not always possible to know long enough in advance whether a seat or sleeper/couchette will be available and, particularly, because it may cause problems when travelling in countries, such as Spain, where the number of places is so limited that passengers are often moved onto a later train?

4. What does the Commission intend to do to ensure that a more coordinated approach is taken to ticket sales and reservations, so that reservations can be made in good time for destinations in the Member States at least and, where possible, in the applicant countries, and tickets for the whole of the journey to be made can be bought together in the case of as many destinations as possible?

5. Will the Commission provide a solution to these problems in the proposal it plans to table, as stated in the answers to questions E-0518/02 and E-0520/02(1) of 18 April 2002, on the rights and obligations of international rail travellers?

(1) OJ C 205 E, 29.8.2002, p. 159.

Joint answerto Written Questions E-2033/02, E-2034/02 and E-2035/02given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(3 September 2002)

The Commission agrees entirely with the Honourable Member about the shortcomings of cross-border rail travel. That is one of the reasons why the Commission has proposed that all such services operated with public service obligations should be subject to rigorously monitored and time limited public service contracts, let on the basis of open, competitive tender.

In response to Parliament's concerns, the revised proposal(1) includes stronger powers for authorities to extend integration arrangements (including pricing and ticketing) across national borders.

A consultation process with the industry started recently on whether computerised reservation systems should be revised in order to achieve a better travel-information to passengers and to ease reservations on international rail transport. On the result of this consultation, the Commission will consider whether Council Regulation (EEC) No 2299/89 of 24 July 1989 on a code of conduct for computerized reservation systems(2) should be revised.

Within the framework of Directive 2001/16/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2001 on the interoperability of the trans-European conventional rail system(3) a TSI (technical specification on interoperability) will be developed on passenger Telematics from 2004 onwards. In this way travel information and ticketing systems should be made interoperable.

As far as the refund policy of railway undertakings is concerned the Commission will take up this issue in the initiative to promote rail passenger rights as announced in the 2nd railway package(4). The Commission will encourage the railway industry to establish voluntary service quality commitments and the Commission is planning to present a proposal for a regulation on passenger rights in 2003.

(1) Amended proposal for a Regulation on action by Member States concerning public service requirements and the award of public service contracts in passenger transport by rail, road and inland waterway, OJ C 151 E, 25.6.2002.

(2) OJ L 220, 29.7.1989.

(3) OJ L 110, 20.4.2001.

(4) COM(2002) 18 final, Communication from the Commission to the Council and the Parliament, Towards an integrated railway area.