Deutsche Bahn is revolutionizing ticket sales: Easier to travel to other European countries!

Deutsche Bahn is revolutionizing ticket sales: Easier to travel to other European countries!

Deutsche Bahn has announced that it will significantly simplify booking international train tickets from autumn 2025. Travelers should be able to book cross-border trips in Europe as easily as national trips. The first step in this direction involves the integration of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). Further partner railways are planned for the coming months, and almost comprehensive integration is aimed for by the end of 2026. This reports travel before9.

The planned connection to the European interface OSDM (Open Sales and Distribution Model) is intended to standardize the currently fragmented booking system. In the future, travelers will be able to book international journeys via bahn.de or DB Navigator in one step, even if neither the starting nor the destination station is in Germany. This change aims to significantly simplify the booking process for cross-border rail travel. Currently, travelers often have to buy multiple tickets for one trip, which is inconvenient. In the future, such multiple bookings should only be necessary in exceptional cases, such as daily news reported.

Benefits for travelers

A key advantage of this new regulation is uniform passenger rights, which will result from integration into a common booking system. Currently, travelers who book tickets separately often lose their right to a replacement if they miss their connection due to delayed trains. With the new solution this will be a thing of the past.

In addition, Deutsche Bahn is planning a price and offer offensive in the summer. From mid-June, the super saver price for short journeys will be reduced from 9.99 to 6.99 euros. In addition, young travelers under the age of 27 benefit from cheaper Bahncard 50 tariffs, and until the end of September, Bahncard users can take a fellow traveler with them at a discounted price. Flexprice bookers can look forward to a 20 percent discount from mid-June to the end of July if they book their tickets more than 28 days in advance.

EU standard and concerns

In parallel to the efforts of Deutsche Bahn, the EU is working on a reform of ticket sales in rail transport. A legislative proposal for a central system is intended to standardize ticket sales. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasizes that the goal is for Europeans to be able to purchase a single ticket via one platform. However, Michael Peterson from Deutsche Bahn expresses concerns about possible new standards that could be imposed by the EU. These could entail additional costs and time, which could complicate the implementation of the OSDM system.