National and international rail transport – Tariff information and consumer rights are derailed – Action UFC-Que Choisir

To determine the difficulties faced by consumers today when they wish to travel by train, UFC-Que Choisir carried out a comparative analysis of the train ticket offering offered by the different reservation sites available, to 24 routes selected to represent different types of national and international journeys (1).

Train offer available: holes in the racket

The historic railway operators of different European countries have developed online reservation platforms, such as SNCF Connect In France. In recent years, new applications have been developed. While we might expect the available train offering to be identical across all of these different booking platforms, the consumer has variable geometry information.

These differences are observed for national trains (for example with regard to the Lyon-Saint-Étienne link, the platform Rome2Rio offers 32 journeys over a day when the platform Broom offers 114), as well as international ones, particularly when the journey includes a connection. Indeed, SNCF Connect only displays the train offerings that it operates itself. Therefore, the consumer cannot know from this application either the existence of a journey with a connection abroad, nor that of a Paris-Lyon train operated by Trenitalia.

Reservations and ticket prices: consumers victims of information fog

The fog persists at the time of booking. Many platforms (Tictactrip, Broom, Omio, Rome2Rio or even Rail Europe) do not clearly distinguish the 1^era and the 2^e class (or the type of wagon for night trains). So, when the 2^e class is full, the price displayed is that of 1^erawithout this being clearly mentioned. This lack of harmonization does not allow consumers to correctly understand the price differences observed for the same journey from one platform to another.

Concretely, a consumer who wishes to travel at the lowest price on a given day will be offered very different prices depending on the platform used. In our sample, the difference between minimum prices can reach 85%!

Difference between prices offered by different booking platforms

Even more surprising, prices can vary for the same train. For example, a consumer wishing to book a Paris-Stuttgart journey – a connection jointly operated by the SNCF and the German railway – will note that the prices displayed on SNCF Connect and on the website of German railway are different. The same train at the end of the day on October 18 is thus displayed at 89 euros on the French site… compared to 79.99 euros on the German site.

In addition, some platforms charge service fees, flat rate or proportional to the price of the ticket. However, we denounce the questionable practices of certain platforms which initially display an attractive price, but which only display or add these service fees at a later stage of the reservation, sometimes even only at the time of payment. A real “dark pattern” (2), a misleading interface which has also been banned for marketplaces.

Passenger rights: consistency is required

When traveling by train, consumers have certain rights in the event of delay or cancellation. One of the main ones is to guarantee delivery to the destination. Thus, in the case of a journey with a connection, arrival at the destination will be ensured in the event of a delay of the first train. However, this right is not yet guaranteed for connecting journeys involving several carriers. That a consumer makes a Montpellier-Madrid journey with a connection in Barcelona, ​​including a first train operated by the SNCF and a second by Renfeor a Rennes-Lyon trip with a connection in Paris, including a first train operated by the SNCF and a second by Trenitaliathe result will be the same: he will have no right to be offered another train to get to his final destination in the event of a delay on the first train.

This situation is all the less acceptable as it applies even when the consumer has purchased their tickets simultaneously, in a single order, from a reservation platform whereas this is intended for air transport… D ‘as much as with the opening to competition of rail transport, such a situation risks multiplying in France. The development of rail competition must not result in consumer rights being left on the dock!

Faced with these observations, UFC-Que Choisir, promoter of the development of carbon-free means of transport, and while remaining committed to the purchase of tickets directly at the station in good conditions, asks the public authorities to:

• Guarantee reservation platforms access to information and sales systems of transport operators;
• Allow transport operators by requesting that their services be displayed and bookable on any transport ticket reservation application;
• Guarantee price transparency for connecting journeys (broken down price);
• Ensuring that passengers booked on connecting journeys benefit from guaranteed onward delivery, disruption compensation and assistance, including on multi-operator journeys and international journeys.

Finally, UFC-Que Choisir urges platforms that do not demonstrate transparency to display service fees much more clearly and immediately in the presentation of their offer.