Latest news with #MatthiasGastel
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
German rail operator to simplify train ticket buying across Europe
Buying tickets for train journeys across Europe is set to become easier for people living in Germany starting this autumn, according to German railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB). The move is seen by some as a step toward better integration of Europe's numerous national railway systems. Starting at the end of 2026, DB promises that "tickets for all major railways in our neighbouring countries will be available" via its website or its app. "International long-distance travel is booming," Michael Peterson, DB's head of long-distance transport, told dpa. He noted that 2024 was the strongest year in this sector for the German railway, with a 22% growth compared to the pre-Covid year of 2019. No integrated European rail network While DB continues to add new connections to its portfolio, such as the recent introduction of ICE high-speed train service between Berlin and Paris, there are still numerous issues with train travel in Europe. "There is no integrated European rail network," said Green Party politician Matthias Gastel, a Bundestag member who has been focused on railways for years and sits on the supervisory board of DB's infrastructure subsidiary InfraGo. Problems often begin with ticket purchases. For cross-border journeys, multiple tickets are often required, each purchased separately. This is not only inconvenient but also means passenger rights, such as compensation for missed connections, do not apply. Tickets from competitors like Flix are not available through DB, which Gastel attributes to DB demanding "horrendously high commissions" designed to dampen the competition. "Problems often arise when a railway line reaches a national border," said Sebastian Wilken, who writes about international train travel on his blog Zugpost. These issues include power supply, signalling and safety systems, track gauge differences and even the language skills of train drivers. At least ticket purchasing is set to become simpler. European railways agreed years ago to implement the Open Sales and Distribution Model or OSDM interface standard. DB's Peterson described it as "the language through which European railways and sales service providers exchange their data." This will give DB access to the complete ticket portfolio of participating railways and vice versa. Soon, one ticket from Oslo to Athens DB access will initially start this autumn, when the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) are set to be made available. New partners are expected to join monthly. "We expect that by the end of next year, Europe will be almost comprehensively connected," said Peterson. Then booking tickets across Europe – whether from Oslo to Athens or Warsaw to Barcelona – will be possible in a single step. Lower-cost tickets via DB competitor Flix will not be available on this system. In response to an inquiry, the company said: "OSDM offers some positive features but also presents challenges – particularly for new market entrants." It cited costs and the complexity of implementation as examples. According to DB, its customers will benefit in several ways, including being able to receive direct price information. "Railways will be able to access and combine the low prices of other railways," DB's Peterson said. During the journey, passengers will receive updates via their mobile phones and tickets for regional transport abroad will also become easier to purchase. EU train integration slow to develop but needed The Green Party's rail expert Gastel acknowledged developments, but said progress is too slow. "It is happening very slowly and it is incredibly laborious, cumbersome and expensive. There are simply far too many obstacles on the tracks." The European Union has long recognized the problem. New connections, such as the planned Munich-Rome route, are supported by the European Commission. However, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has noted that cross-border rail travel remains too complicated for many citizens. "People should be able to use open booking systems to purchase trans-European journeys from multiple providers without losing their right to refunds or alternative travel," she has noted. The European Commission plans to propose legislation for "uniform digital booking and ticketing services" intended to ensure that "Europeans can buy a single ticket on a single platform and exercise their passenger rights for the entire journey." DB's Peterson says he is not worried about additional rules. "I have absolutely no concerns about what the European Commission wants to regulate because we share the same goals," he told dpa. However, he noted that the Commission intends to mandate a different standard than OSDM. "My only concern is that we have invested years in OSDM, implemented it in IT – which costs money and time – and that the EU might not introduce corresponding regulations before 2026."
Local Germany
30-04-2025
- Business
- Local Germany
Switzerland suspends Deutsche Bahn trains due to chronic delays
As of Tuesday, April 29th, two Deutsche Bahn (DB) routes that had previously terminated further inside Switzerland are now set to end near the German-Swiss border. DB's EuroCity (EC) 7 service from Hamburg to Interlaken Ost, and the EC 9 service from Dortmund to Zurich, will now terminate in the city of Basel. The decision was made by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) to mitigate the impact of chronically late-running DB trains on the Swiss network. In comparison with ultra-punctual Swiss trains, the German operator had been regularly undermining the German reputation for efficiency. SBB said it will run its own additional trains on the Swiss sections of the affected routes in order to minimise the inconvenience for passengers, who will now have to change at Basel before continuing their journeys. Trains returning to Germany from Switzerland on these routes will continue to run as usual. READ ALSO: 'Learn from the Swiss' - How Germany can solve its endless rail problems A sustainable solution to an unsustainable problem Swiss Railways operates a policy of terminating trains that arrive in Basel more than 20 minutes behind schedule, and the number of trains affected has risen rapidly in recent years as a direct result of DB . According to information provided by the Federal Ministry of Transport (at the request of Green Party MP Matthias Gastel), 11 percent of journeys on the Munich-Zurich route were terminated during the first quarter of 2024 (compared to 2.1 percent in 2023). Some of these delays were caused by storms and accidents, but the report revealed that 75 percent were due to infrastructure problems. In comments reported in Der Spiegel , Head of SBB Vincent Ducrot identified the root cause of these problems as an overly complex corporate structure, a lack of digitisation, and a chronic lack of investment. Advertisement In 2024, approximately 64 percent of Deutsche Bahn's long-distance passenger trains reached their destination on time. In Switzerland, the equivalent figure was 93.2 percent, up from 92.5 percent the previous year. The decision to terminate both the EC7 and EC9 services in Basel is fixed until the SBB's next timetable review, scheduled for mid-December 2025. READ ALSO: What's the secret behind Germany's most punctual railway line?
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
German state railways DB service cancellations rose in 2024
German state rail operator Deutsche Bahn cancelled more services in 2024 than in previous years. This is according to an answer from the Transport Ministry to a question from Green Party Bundestag member Matthias Gastel, which was made available to dpa. The ministry stated the proportion of cancelled long-distance journeys rose from 1% in 2019 to 4% in 2024. In regional services, the proportion was reported to be 5% last year. The rail operator has been pressing the German government to fund massive investments in the country's railroads, arguing that a lack of maintenance and investment in recent decades have caused problems and limited capacity. Gastel called for high-level investment in railway infrastructure and maintenance of trains. Free Democrats lawmaker Torsten Herbst also raised questions in parliament about cancellations for long-distance services. According to the ministry's response, there were more than 13,600 cancelled journeys last year. More than 60% of these were due to external causes. Almost half of all cancellations occurred due to strikes in January 2024, according to the ministry. The strike by the train drivers' union GDL caused massive disruptions to passenger and freight rail services throughout Germany, with the majority of trains cancelled.
