1. When selling tickets for journeys by rail, railway undertakings, station managers, ticket vendors and tour operators shall inform passengers of their rights and obligations under this Regulation. In order to comply with this information requirement, they may use a summary of the provisions of this Regulation prepared by the Commission in all official languages of the Union and made available to them. They shall provide that information, in either paper or electronic format, or by any other means, including in accessible formats in accordance with the provisions of Directive (EU) 2019/882 and Regulation (EU) No 1300/2014. They shall specify where, in the event of cancellation, missed connection or long delay, such information can be obtained.
2. Railway undertakings and station managers shall inform passengers in an appropriate manner, including in accessible formats in accordance with the provisions of Directive (EU) 2019/882 and Regulation (EU) No 1300/2014, at the station, on the train and on their website, of their rights and obligations under this Regulation, and of the contact details of the body or bodies designated by Member States pursuant to Article 31.
1. Each Member State shall designate a body or bodies responsible for the enforcement of this Regulation. Each body shall take the measures necessary to ensure that the rights of passengers are respected.
2. Each body shall be independent in its organisation, funding decisions, legal structure and decision-making of any infrastructure manager, charging body, allocation body or railway undertaking.
3. Member States shall inform the Commission of the body or bodies designated in accordance with this Article and of its or their respective responsibilities. The Commission and the bodies designated shall publish that information on their websites.
4. The enforcement obligations as regards station managers and infrastructure managers provided for in this Chapter shall not apply to Cyprus or Malta for as long as no railway system is established within their respective territories and as regards railway undertakings for as long as no railway undertaking has been licensed by a licensing authority designated by Cyprus or Malta in accordance with Article 2(1).
1. The national enforcement bodies shall closely monitor compliance with this Regulation, including with Regulations (EU) No 454/2011 and (EU) No 1300/2014 as far as those Regulations are referred to in this Regulation, and shall take the measures necessary to ensure that the rights of passengers are upheld.
2. For the purpose of paragraph 1, railway undertakings, station managers, infrastructure managers, ticket vendors and tour operators shall provide the national enforcement bodies with relevant documents and information at their request without undue delay and, in any event, within one month from the receipt of the request. In complex cases, the national enforcement body may extend this period to a maximum of three months from the receipt of the request. In carrying out their functions, the national enforcement bodies shall take account of the information submitted to them by the body designated under Article 33 to handle complaints, if this is a different body. They may also decide on enforcement actions based on individual complaints transmitted by such a body.
3. Every two years, the national enforcement bodies shall publish reports with statistics on their activity, including on penalties applied by 30 June of the following calendar year. Those reports shall be made available on the website of the European Union Agency for Railways.
4. Railway undertakings shall give their contact details to the national enforcement body or bodies of the Member States in which they operate.
Complaint handling by national enforcement bodies and other bodies
1. Without prejudice to the rights of consumers to seek alternative redress pursuant to Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 15 ) , after having complained unsuccessfully to the railway undertaking or station manager pursuant to Article 28 the passenger may complain to the national enforcement body or any other body designated under paragraph 2 of this Article within three months from receiving information on the rejection of the original complaint. Where no reply is received within three months from making the original complaint, the passenger shall have the right to complain to the national enforcement body or any other body designated under paragraph 2. Where necessary, that body shall inform the complainant about his or her right to complain to alternative dispute resolution bodies to seek individual redress.
2. Any passenger may complain about an alleged infringement of this Regulation either to the national enforcement body, or to any other body designated by a Member State for that purpose.
3. The national enforcement body or any other body designated under paragraph 2 shall acknowledge receipt of the complaint within two weeks of receiving it. The complaint-handling procedure shall take a maximum of three months from the date of the establishment of the complaint file. For complex cases, that body may extend that period to six months. In such a case, it shall inform the passenger of the reasons for the extension and of the expected time needed to conclude the procedure. Only those cases that involve legal proceedings may take longer than six months. Where that body is also an alternative dispute resolution body within the meaning of Directive 2013/11/EU, the time limits laid down in that Directive shall prevail.
The complaint-handling procedure shall be made accessible to persons with disabilities and to persons with reduced mobility.
4. Passenger complaints about an incident involving a railway undertaking shall be handled by the national enforcement body or any other body designated under paragraph 2 of the Member State that granted that undertaking’s licence.
5. Where a complaint relates to alleged infringements by station or infrastructure managers, the complaint shall be handled by the national enforcement body or any other body designated under paragraph 2 of the Member State on whose territory the incident occurred.
6. In the framework of cooperation pursuant to Article 34, the national enforcement bodies may derogate from paragraphs 4 or 5 of this Article, or both of them, where for justified reasons, in particular those related to language or place of residence, this is in the passenger’s interest.
Exchange of information and cross-border cooperation between national enforcement bodies
1. Where different bodies are designated under Articles 31 and 33, reporting mechanisms shall be set up to ensure the exchange of information between them, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679, in order to help the national enforcement body to carry out its tasks of supervision and enforcement, and so that the complaint-handling body designated under Article 33 can collect the information necessary to examine individual complaints.
2. National enforcement bodies shall exchange information on their work and decision-making principles and practices for the purpose of coordination. The Commission shall support them in that task.
3. In complex cases such as those involving multiple complaints or a number of operators, cross-border travel or accidents on the territory of a Member State other than that which granted the undertaking’s licence, and in particular where it is unclear which national enforcement body is competent, or where it would facilitate or accelerate the resolution of the complaint, national enforcement bodies shall cooperate to identify a lead body, which shall serve as a single point of contact for passengers. All national enforcement bodies involved shall cooperate to facilitate the resolution of the complaint, including by sharing information, assisting with the translation of documents and providing information on the circumstances of incidents. Passengers shall be informed which body is acting as lead body.
