Transport contract
Article 4
Subject to the provisions of this Chapter, the conclusion and performance of a transport contract and the provision of information and tickets shall be governed by the provisions of Title II and Title III of Annex I.
Regulation (EU) 2021/782 CHAPTER II — TRANSPORT CONTRACT, INFORMATION AND TICKETS
Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗
Non-discriminatory contract conditions and tariffs
Article 5
Without prejudice to social tariffs, railway undertakings, ticket vendors or tour operators shall offer contract conditions and tariffs to the general public without direct or indirect discrimination on the basis of the passenger’s nationality or of the place of establishment within the Union of the railway undertaking, ticket vendor or tour operator. The first paragraph of this Article also applies to railway undertakings and ticket vendors when accepting reservations from passengers in accordance with Article 11.
Bicycles
Article 6
1. Subject to the limitations set out in paragraph 3, and where appropriate for a reasonable fee, passengers shall be entitled to take bicycles on board the train. On trains for which a reservation is required, it shall be possible to make a reservation for the carriage of a bicycle. Where a passenger has made a reservation for a bicycle and the carriage of that bicycle is refused without a duly justified reason, the passenger shall be entitled to re-routing or reimbursement in accordance with Article 18, compensation in accordance with Article 19 and assistance in accordance with Article 20(2). 2. Where designated places for bicycles are available on board the train, passengers shall stow their bicycles in such places. Where such places are not available, passengers shall keep their bicycles under supervision, and shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure that their bicycles cause no harm or damage to other passengers, mobility equipment, luggage or rail operations. 3. Railway undertakings may restrict the right of passengers to take bicycles on board the train for safety or operational reasons, in particular as a result of capacity limits applicable during peak hours, or where rolling stock does not permit it. Railway undertakings may also restrict the carriage of bicycles based on the weights and dimensions of the bicycles concerned. They shall publish their conditions for the transport of bicycles, including up-to-date information on the availability of capacity, by using the telematics applications referred to in Regulation (EU) No 454/2011 on their official websites. 4. When initiating procurement procedures for new rolling stock, or when performing a major upgrade of existing rolling stock resulting in the need for a new vehicle authorisation for placing on the market pursuant to Article 21(12) of Directive (EU) 2016/797 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 12 ) , railway undertakings shall ensure that train compositions, in which that rolling stock is used, are equipped with an adequate number of places for bicycles. This subparagraph shall not apply in relation to restaurant cars, sleeping cars or couchette cars. Railway undertakings shall determine an adequate number of places for bicycles taking into consideration the size of train composition, the type of service and the demand for transport of bicycles. The adequate number of places for bicycles shall be defined in plans referred to in paragraph 5. Where there are no such plans or the plans do not determine such a number, each train composition shall have at least four places for bicycles. Member States may set a number higher than four as the minimum adequate number for certain types of services, in which case that number shall apply instead of the number identified in accordance with the second subparagraph. 5. Railway undertakings may establish, and keep up-to-date, plans on how to increase and improve the transport of bicycles, and on other solutions encouraging combined use of railways and bicycles. The competent authorities, as defined in point (b) of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 13 ) , may establish such plans for services provided under public service contracts. Member States may require that such plans are established by those competent authorities or by railway undertakings operating on their territory. 6. The plans referred to in paragraph 5 shall be established following consultation of the public and relevant representative organisations. Those plans shall be published on the website of the railway undertaking or the competent authority, as appropriate.
Exclusion of waiver and stipulation of limits
Article 7
1. Obligations towards passengers pursuant to this Regulation may not be limited or waived, notably by a derogation or restrictive clause in the transport contract. Any contractual conditions which purport directly or indirectly to waive, derogate from or restrict the rights resulting from this Regulation shall not be binding on the passenger. 2. Railway undertakings, tour operators or ticket vendors may offer contractual conditions which are more favourable for the passenger than the conditions laid down in this Regulation.
Obligation to provide information concerning discontinuation of services
Article 8
Railway undertakings or, where appropriate, competent authorities responsible for a public service railway contract shall make public by appropriate means, including in accessible formats in accordance with the provisions of Directive (EU) 2019/882 and Regulations (EU) No 454/2011 and (EU) No 1300/2014, and before their implementation, decisions to discontinue services either permanently or temporarily.
Travel information
Article 9
1. Railway undertakings, tour operators and ticket vendors offering transport contracts on behalf of one or more railway undertakings shall provide the passenger, upon request, with at least the information set out in Annex II, Part I in relation to the journeys for which a transport contract is offered by the railway undertaking concerned. 2. Railway undertakings and, where possible, ticket vendors and tour operators shall provide the passenger during the journey with at least the information set out in Annex II, Part II. Where a station manager has such information, he or she shall also provide the information to the passenger. 3. The information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be provided in the most appropriate format, where possible based on real-time travel information, including by using appropriate communication technologies. Particular attention shall be paid to ensuring that this information is accessible in accordance with the provisions of Directive (EU) 2019/882 and Regulations (EU) No 454/2011 and (EU) No 1300/2014.
Access to traffic and travel information
Article 10
1. Infrastructure managers shall distribute real-time data relating to the arrival and the departure of trains to railway undertakings, ticket vendors, tour operators and station managers. 2. Railway undertakings shall provide other railway undertakings, ticket vendors and tour operators that sell their services with access to minimum travel information set out in Annex II, Parts I and II, and to the operations on reservation systems referred to in Annex II, Part III. 3. Information shall be distributed and access shall be granted in a non-discriminatory manner and without undue delay. A one-off request shall be sufficient to have continuous access to information. The infrastructure manager and the railway undertaking obliged to make available information in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 may request the conclusion of a contract or other arrangement on whose basis information is distributed or access is granted. The terms and conditions of any contract or arrangement for the use of the information shall not unnecessarily restrict possibilities for its reuse or be used to restrict competition. Railway undertakings may require from other railway undertakings, tour operators and ticket vendors a fair, reasonable and proportionate financial compensation for the costs incurred in providing the access, and infrastructure managers may require compensation in accordance with the applicable rules. 4. Information shall be distributed and access shall be provided by appropriate technical means, such as application programming interfaces. 5. To the extent that the information covered by paragraphs 1 or 2 is provided in accordance with other Union legal acts, in particular Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1926 ( 14 ) , the corresponding obligations under this Article shall be deemed to have been complied with.
Availability of tickets and reservations
Article 11
1. Railway undertakings, ticket vendors and tour operators shall offer tickets and, where available, through-tickets and reservations. 2. Without prejudice to paragraphs 3 and 4, railway undertakings shall sell, either directly or through ticket vendors or tour operators, tickets to passengers via at least one of the following means of sale: (a) ticket offices, other points of sale or ticketing machines; (b) telephone, the internet or any other widely available information technology; (c) on board trains. The competent authorities, as defined in point (b) of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007, may require railway undertakings to offer tickets for services provided under public service contracts via more than one means of sale. 3. Where there is no ticket office or ticketing machine in the station of departure, passengers shall be informed at the station of: (a) the possibility of purchasing tickets via telephone or the Internet or on board the train, and of the procedure for such purchase; (b) the nearest railway station or place at which ticket offices or ticketing machines are available. 4. Where there is no ticket office or no accessible ticketing machine in the station of departure and no other accessible means to purchase a ticket in advance, persons with disabilities shall be permitted to buy tickets on board the train at no extra cost. Railway undertakings may limit or deny this right on justifiable grounds related to security or compulsory train reservation. Where there is no staff on board the train, the railway undertaking shall advise the persons with disabilities whether to and inform them on how to purchase the ticket. Member States may allow railway undertakings to require that persons with disabilities are recognised as such in accordance with the relevant national law and practices of the country of their residence. Member States may extend the right referred to in the first subparagraph to all passengers. Where Member States apply this option, they shall inform the Commission accordingly. The European Union Agency for Railways shall publish the information on its website relating to the implementation of Regulations (EU) No 454/2011 and (EU) No 1300/2014.
Through-tickets
Article 12
1. Where long-distance or regional rail passenger services are operated by a sole railway undertaking, that undertaking shall offer a through-ticket for those services. For other rail passenger services, railway undertakings shall make all reasonable efforts to offer through-tickets and shall cooperate to that end among themselves. For the purpose of the first subparagraph the term ‘sole railway undertaking’ shall also include all railway undertakings which are either wholly owned by the same owner or which are wholly-owned subsidiary undertakings of one of the railway undertakings involved. 2. For journeys including one or more connections, the passenger shall be informed prior to purchasing a ticket or tickets whether that ticket or those tickets constitute a through-ticket. 3. For journeys including one or more connections, a ticket or tickets, purchased in a single commercial transaction from a railway undertaking, shall constitute a through-ticket and the railway undertaking shall be liable in accordance with Articles 18, 19 and 20 if the passenger misses one or more connections. 4. Where a ticket or tickets are purchased in a single commercial transaction and the ticket vendor or tour operator has combined the tickets on its own initiative, the ticket vendor or tour operator that sold the ticket or tickets shall be liable to reimburse the total amount paid for that transaction for the ticket or tickets and, moreover, to pay compensation equivalent to 75 % of that amount in the event that the passenger misses one or more connections. The right to reimbursement or to compensation referred to in the first subparagraph is without prejudice to applicable national law granting passengers further compensation for damage. 5. The liabilities set out in paragraphs 3 and 4 shall not apply if it is mentioned on the tickets, or on another document or electronically in such a manner that allows the passenger to reproduce the information for future reference, that the tickets represent separate transport contracts, and the passenger was informed of this prior to the purchase. 6. The burden of proof that the passenger was provided with the information referred to in this Article shall lie with the railway undertaking, tour operator or ticket vendor that sold the ticket or tickets. 7. The ticket vendors or the tour operators shall be responsible for handling requests and possible complaints of the passenger under paragraph 4. The reimbursement and the compensation referred to in paragraph 4 shall be paid within 30 days after the receipt of the request.
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