Rail passenger rights regulation recast

The establishment of passengers’ rights is considered one of the EU’s big achievements. However, current EU rules do not provide a high level of protection for rail passengers who face delays, poor service or discrimination. Often, consumers are not protected for their entire journey and cannot expect fair compensation in case that something goes wrong. The reform of the EU rail passenger rights should therefore focus on how to give better rights to consumers and how to implement effective enforcement measures.

We have concerns about the new Commission proposal that the level of protection still not good enough.

One of the most important issues for consumers is the protection afforded to them in case of a delay, in particular the right to compensation. We do not support the Commission’s idea to weaken this important consumer right by exempting rail companies from having to pay compensation in the event of delays caused by certain extraordinary circumstances.

Instead, the legislator should consider improving the low standard of compensation. Each of our concerns is outlined in detail below. We are hopeful that the European legislator will work to ensure that passenger rights across the EU are not weakened but improved and modernised.