Travelling with one ticket through the EU

One ticket for travelling through every Member State in the EU, using all kinds of transport: "It doesn't need to remain a dream.We identified the existing obstacles and now we have to work on overcoming them," says Dieter-Lebrecht Koch MEP. His report, aimed at achieving multimodal integrated ticketing in Europe, was adopted this Thursday in the Transport and Tourism Committee of the European Parliament.

"Until now, it has been not just difficult, but almost impossible to get tickets for cross-border travel using, for example, a train and a bus," says Koch. "We all agree that it should be easier. In our modern and online times, we must be able to create integrated ticketing with real-time information and passenger rights for multimodal travel, to allow seamless door-to-door mobility for EU citizens."

There are already initiatives, but they are limited to certain regions or do not include all transport modes. Companies should make progress by 2020 at the latest, the report states. If they do not, the European Commission should put forward legislative proposals for integrated ticketing.

Mr Koch highlights that travellers should be informed of all travel options allowing them to choose the quickest, shortest and cheapest way to travel within Europe. "This will be very useful for EU citizens and beneficial for our society, economy and environment as well as tourism," says Koch.

The Rapporteur is very happy with the huge support received in the Committee today. The full report will be voted in the plenary soon.