Rail ticket purchases: increasing complexity in the pricing system
The Agency for Passenger Rights (apf) is responsible for out-of-court dispute resolution in rail, long-distance bus, ship and air transport. In its arbitration procedure , recurring problems of passengers come to light. One challenge for passengers is the increasing complexity of rail fares.
Complex pricing system
Each rail company and each transport association has developed its own pricing system. Historically, prices in Austria were based on fixed kilometer tariffs. Today, many companies use a complex system of relation prices based on supply, demand, distance, time of purchase, ticket class and other factors. This has led to an enormous variety of prices. While ÖBB-Personenverkehr used to have only 100 standard prices, today there are around 76 million. If you add discounts and different types of tickets, there are around 380 million prices. In addition, there are contingent Sparschiene and WESTsuperpreis tickets, which offer cheaper but less flexible options. New pricing models, such as dynamic pricing for ÖBB night trains, further increase the complexity. WESTbahn's pricing system is also becoming increasingly complex. This is increasingly leading to a lack of transparency and confusion for passengers when purchasing tickets. The Klimaticket offers a noticeable relief in this respect, as it enables the use of almost all transport companies in Austria without knowledge of the complex pricing systems.
No cancellation after PDF purchase of online tickets from ÖBB-PV
PDF tickets purchased online from ÖBB cannot be canceled. With other types of purchase, this is possible if the cancellation modalities allow it. This is particularly problematic for people who only use the train occasionally and tourists, who often book more expensive fares in order to have the option of canceling.
Ticket for part of the journey instead of the entire journey
For international bookings, it can happen that only part-journey tickets are sold. Although this is pointed out during the booking process, it is not clear to passengers. These passengers then wrongly assume that they have purchased a ticket for the entire route.
Other problems when purchasing tickets
In addition to the points mentioned above, the apf receives requests for arbitration on numerous other problems:
In ÖBB regional transport, it is often no longer possible to buy tickets on the train, and if it is, then only to a limited extent. However, the ticket must be presented before boarding. This can lead to fines.
The ÖBB ticket store does not indicate that infants up to the age of 5 do not have their own seat in the couchette or sleeper car.
Ticket machines only give change up to a maximum of 9 euros, which makes it difficult to buy tickets with cash.
The purchase of tickets from different rail companies for one journey is complex and often disadvantageous for passengers.
These issues are just a small part of apf's daily conciliation work.