According to (ALLRAIL Secretary General) Nick Brooks, this is due to an important difference between air and rail transport: "It is not possible to go directly from place to place by train because there are different signal systems in Europe."

"You can't just take a train and set it down on some random tracks somewhere in Europe," he explains. He also believes that a different policy is needed - indeed he even calls it 'a revolution' - in the train area, also in the ticketing system:

"It is our wish that all train tickets can be displayed and sold at all train operators and at independent train portals so that you have a fully accessible train ticket system. Only then will train travel really flourish."

"The national train companies are satisfied with things as they are. There is very little competition. If I asked 100 people in Denmark where they would buy their train tickets, 97 would answer DSB. They have a huge market share, and therefore they have no incentive to change anything."

Potential passengers need easy access to timetable information and quick access to tickets. Recent legal rulings have shown: The EU and its Member States finally need to make trains easier to find and book for the citizens who are paying for it.

We, the undersigned ministers, members of Parliament, civil society organisations, and industry groups call on EU Commission President Von der Leyen, Executive Vice-President Šefčovič and Commissioner Vălean to act upon the recent renaissance of night trains and present a European strategy for developing a comprehensive night train network.

ALLRAIL and the online travel comparison and booking portal Omio are partners in a new campaign to replace short-haul flights with rail to decarbonise the transport sector. SilverRail Technologies spearheaded the campaign, and ten other organisations are partnering with it as well.