Anton Malmgren

CEO

On 13 May 2026, the European Commission unveiled a package of proposals that could fundamentally change how we travel by train across Europe. For anyone who's dreamed of ditching flights for rail, this is news worth celebrating.

Have you ever tried to book a train journey from Stockholm to, say, Barcelona? Then you know what it looks like: a patchwork of booking systems, multiple separate tickets from different operators, and a nagging fear of what happens if you miss a connection. Anyone who's attempted cross-border rail travel in Europe knows the frustration. The European Commission has now had enough.

The new legislative package, called the "Passenger Package", consists of three proposals that together aim to make seamless train travel across Europe a reality. The core idea is simple: travellers should be able to find, compare and book train tickets from multiple rail operators in a single transaction, on a booking platform of their own choice.

What changes in practice?

The fundamental problem today is that European rail operators run fragmented booking systems that don't talk to each other. Want to travel with three different companies on one journey? You'll often need to buy three separate tickets, and if you miss a connection due to a delay, you're far from guaranteed any right to compensation or rebooking.

Under the new rules, the Commission proposes that passengers who've purchased a single through-ticket will have full passenger rights protection in the event of missed connections, including on-the-spot assistance, rerouting, reimbursement and compensation. The same protection, regardless of how many operators your journey involves.

Transparency and climate at the centre

The Commission also wants to put a stop to large rail companies blocking independent booking platforms from selling their tickets. All transport operators should have access to fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory commercial agreements with ticketing platforms.

And for those of us who want to make climate-smart travel choices: platforms will be required to present travel options in a neutral way, including sorting by greenhouse gas emissions where feasible. It's a small but symbolically important detail, that environmental impact should be clearly visible when we choose how to get around. Train travel is already the most climate-friendly way to cover long distances in Europe, and it could soon be just as easy to book as a flight.

What happens next?

It is worth noting that these are still proposals. The Commission will now submit them to the Council and the European Parliament for consideration under the ordinary legislative procedure. EU law-making takes time. But the direction is unambiguously right.

For Klimra, this is a welcome signal. Rail travel has long struggled to compete with flying, largely because of the complexity of booking and the weak protection passengers face when things go wrong. If these rules go through, the EU will have taken a concrete step towards making the easy choice the sustainable choice, whether you're planning a week-long rail holiday in Europe or an extended train adventure across the continent.

We'll be watching closely as this moves through Parliament, and we hope that the next time you go to book train tickets across Europe, it feels as smooth as a domestic flight, just without the emissions.