[CrlNvl]

French here: I think the conclusion is flawed. Many operators won't simplify the life of the EU citizen, per the article itself:

> Then there is ticketing. Because systems are incompatible, only a few agencies sell rail tickets across the entire continent. As for refunds, operators are responsible only for the portion of the trip on their own trains.

So if your DB train to Frankfurt is late to your french TGV to Strasbourg, then your TGV won't be compensated. And you'll have to buy a new ticket.

Some guys tried their hands to be a European train ticket reseller (Captain Train, now owned by Trainline and way less effective than it was before), but it is not an easy feat.

[Svip]

That's a political issue, not a technical one. And one that can be solved with political will. A decade ago, I would not have been so optimistic, but these days, even politicians are talking about the necessity of transcontinental rail routes.

[isbvhodnvemrwvn]

I've heard that there was some sort of a standard being developed on the EU level, but it basically drowns in bureaucracy, and the API calls are effectively free-for-all key-value objects where everyone can implement them as they see fit.

[estebank]

As much of a cynic I can be, I believe that if there's a supra-national organism capable of addressing such a problem as cross-country rail coordination, it's the EU. As many ills there are in the banking system in the EU, transferring money even across countries between individuals is a much more seamless experience than in other places, in large part, if not entirely, thanks to EU legislation. Things like abolition of roaming fees is another example.

You can of course point at the fake "bendy bananas" UK tabloid bullshit pushed by the likes of their current PM for easy laughs, or at the cookie banners prevalent on every site that collects more than a service level log of visitors to be skeptical, but I still think improving the situation of rail in Europe can be done in reasonable ways.

[kergonath]

The EU is great when you need a technical solution to a very complex problem. The people at the commission just love that stuff.

[johnchristopher]

> Some guys tried their hands to be a European train ticket reseller (Captain Train, now owned by Trainline and way less effective than it was before), but it is not an easy feat.

Jungan weird how I came across this tweet yesterday: https://twitter.com/Signez/status/1458054003795939332?t=FtMB...

[freeflight]

https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-passes

[iggldiggl]

As a European resident, you need to use Interrail, which in turn doesn't cover journeys in your home country unless you buy the more expensive Global pass, and even that only covers one single return journey in your home country.

If you want to do some more extensive train travelling in your holidays, they can certainly be worth it, but for a simple there-and-back-again journey those passes tend to be somewhat on the pricey side and I wouldn't view them as a satisfactory alternative to real through-ticketing.

[freeflight]

> a simple there-and-back-again journey those passes tend to be somewhat on the pricey side

A simple there-and-back-again journey should easily be able to be planed ahead, which usually gives the most affordable ticket choices. Many countries even offer weekend passes for those needs, tho they will not always cover all and everything, particularly not more exotic privatized public transport.

But on regular there and back again tickets, the pricing ranges there can be extreme; As long as you are willing to book some days in advance and stick to a specific connection and specific trains. Savings on that directly translate to international routes, and those savings are usually quite extreme.

[iggldiggl]

Yes, but then you're back again with the original problem, i.e. that there's often no through-ticketing available, especially if you need to make connections on both sides of the border. E.g. while the DB–SNCF cooperation means that both companies will sell tickets for the direct trains between France and Germany, at least online DB doesn't sell through-tickets involving a connection in France, and SNCF likewise doesn't sell tickets involving a change of trains in Germany.