The Regulation (EC) No 1371/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on rail passengers’ rights and obligationsestablishes a basic set of rights for rail passengers and requires greater responsibility of rail undertakings towards their customers.
SUMMARY
The Regulation aims at establishing rights and obligations for rail passenger service users in order to improve the efficiency and attractiveness of rail transport for passengers.
Scope
The Regulation concerns all rail journeys and services provided under licence by one or more rail undertakings under Directive 95/18/EC.
It does not apply to transport services or rail undertakings which are not licensed.
A Member State can opt to grant an exemption from most articles of the Regulation to domestic rail passenger services for a maximum period of five years, which may be renewed twice. It may also exempt urban, suburban and regional rail passenger services from this Regulation.
Passengers’ rights
Rail passengers have the following basic rights:
Transport contract, information and tickets
Passengers should be given clear and accessible information:
Rail undertakings must make the purchasing of tickets easier for rail passengers. As a general rule tickets are sold at least either via ticket offices or selling machines, or on board trains or via widely available information technology (internet or telephone).
Liability of Rail undertakings for passengers
The Regulation strengthens passengers’ rights to compensation in the case of death or injury. An advance payment should:
Delays and cancellations
The Regulation strengthens passengers’ rights to compensation in the case of delays or cancellations. Passengers may claim a minimum compensation equivalent to:
In the case of a delay in arrival or departure, passengers have the right to:
Disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility
The Regulation gives disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility the following rights:
Security, complaints andservicequality
The Regulation obliges rail undertakings and stations managers to ensure passengers’ personal security in trains and stations in cooperation with the public authorities.
Rail undertakings are required to put in place an effective complaints handling mechanism. They must make their contact details and working languages widely known to passengers and respond to passengers whilst respecting strict deadlines. Passengers may complain to any rail undertaking involved.
The minimum service quality standards for rail undertakings include:
Enforcement by Member States
Member States must designate an independent body or bodies in charge of the enforcement of the Regulation. Passengers can submit a complaint to any of these bodies if they feel that their rights have not been respected.
Member States must also set up effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for infringements of the Regulation.
Context
This Regulation comes under the framework of the Common Transport Policy and contributes to the aim of protecting rail passengers’ rights.
REFERENCES
Act |
Entry into force |
Deadline for transposition in the Member States |
Official Journal |
Regulation (EC) No 1371/2007 |
3.12.2009 |
– |
OJ L 315 of 3.12.2007 |
RELATED ACTS
Communication from the Commission of 3 March 2004 – Further integration of the European rail system: third railway package [ COM(2004) 140 final – Not published in the Official Journal].
Reports
Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council: Report on the Application of Regulation (EC) No 1371/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on Rail Passengers’ Rights and Obligations [ COM(2013) 587 final – Not published in the Official Journal].
This report examines the state of application of the Regulation in the EU Member States. It concludes that:
Last updated: 13.03.2014
Please wait while we check prices and availability.
Caution, your purchase on the Thello website can’t be processed because the browser version is outdated. Please update your browser.
[ Update my browser ]