A new report from the European Court of Auditors (ECA) has found that booking a train ticket is "difficult or impossible" for nearly half of the busiest flight routes in the European Union. The study, published in April 2026, examined 100 of the most popular short-haul air routes where a rail alternative of under six hours exists.
The auditors identified significant barriers to cross-border rail travel, including a lack of integrated ticketing systems, complex booking processes, and insufficient information for passengers. The report criticizes the current "stone age" booking systems, which it says make it needlessly difficult for travelers to choose less polluting train journeys over flights.
The findings highlight a major obstacle to the EU's climate goals, which aim to shift passenger traffic from air to rail to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The European Commission has set a target to double high-speed rail traffic by 2030 and triple it by 2050.
The ECA report calls for urgent action to improve rail ticketing and information systems across member states. It recommends the creation of a single, EU-wide online platform for booking international train tickets, similar to existing systems for air travel.
