The European Commission on Thursday launched an effort to standardize fare and timetable information available for European Union rail passengers, in what it said is a first step towards cross-border railway booking systems, dpa reported. "We want to make it as easy, in the future, to book a rail ticket from Barcelona to Brussels or Berlin to Bratislava as it is to book a corresponding flight," EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said in a statement. "It is just the start of a much bigger push to make pan-European rail planning and ticketing a reality," he added. Railway data is rarely interchangeable in Europe because of the industry's national focus, making it difficult for passengers to book tickets to other countries on non-major routes, the commission said. "If we are serious about getting people onto rail, and particularly about having rail compete with air travel over middle distances, then we need to offer rail passengers the seamless planning and ticketing offers that match the airlines," Kallas said. The commission said it also intends in 2012 to implement another measure requiring rail operators and ticket vendors to bring their IT systems into line, so that the standardized timetable and fare data can be passed back and forth between them. It noted, however, that the first applications likely won't take place until at least 2016.
