This blogpost is authored by Carlo Cambini, CERRE Academic Co-Director and Polytechnic University of Turin and Paolo Beria, CERRE Research Fellow and Polytechnic University of Milan.
On 13 May 2026, the European Commission presented a new “Passenger Package” aimed at creating a fully integrated and consumer-friendly ticketing system across the European Union. The package includes legislative proposals on railway visibility, multimodal digital services, and passenger rights. A key part of the vision is to allow travellers to search, compare, and purchase transport services offered by different operators and modes through a single transaction via multimodal competing platforms. The initiative is encapsulated in the slogan “One journey, one ticket, full rights”.
A central element of the reform is the proposed Regulation on Multimodal Digital Mobility Services (MDMS), which introduces a harmonised framework for digital ticket distribution in Europe. The proposal requires platforms to display and rank transport options according to objective and transparent criteria, such as price, travel time, or environmental impact, thereby prohibiting discriminatory practices and self-preferencing. The regulation also establishes fair and non-discriminatory contractual conditions between operators and platforms, banning exclusivity clauses and unjustified restrictions on multi-channel distribution.
Alongside the MDMS proposal, the Commission also introduced the proposed Regulation on Rail Ticketing, designed to improve access to rail tickets and increase competition in ticket distribution. The proposal identifies incumbent railway companies as potential “gatekeepers” of distribution channels. To address this issue, railway operators would be obliged to share ticketing content and real-time data with ticket vendors upon request, while dominant operators holding at least 50% of the national market would have to open their ticketing platforms to competing rail companies. These rules mirror existing principles adopted in the aviation sector for computerised reservation systems. Finally, the regulation establishes contractual rules limiting unfair fees, exclusivity arrangements, and discriminatory technical requirements, with enforcement entrusted to national railway regulatory bodies.
The package is potentially revolutionary for the rail market, not only because of its effort to “simplify” the life of travellers and increasing rail use, but also because it effectively removes the market entry barrier of ticketing distribution for smaller newcomers. Nevertheless, to deliver the full benefits, some issues still remain.
First, the proposal is not clear on how to set the rules for how incumbent operators have to treat competitors. The law requires FRAND (“fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory”) treatment, but the lack of detailed implementation rules may create uncertainty in negotiations between market participants. On this point, CERRE has already presented some proposals to make the regulatory tool operative.
A second problem is the impact of the overall proposal – not only for railway incumbents and new entrants, but also for small and large digital platforms – which remains not clear and straightforward and deserve further analysis. Any regulation can create winner and losers, but it is important to assess the overall effect of the decision to minimise drawbacks and the risk of inadvertently concentrating the market in the hands of few “new” players.
A third issue is how to ensure the reforms are practically and operationally delivered. The regulation is so ambitious that will require a substantial redesign of many aspects related to ticketing. Interoperability of different existing platforms is obviously a technological challenge.
CERRE will continue to monitor the evolution of this proposal and contribute to the policy debate with its research.
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