Eurostar (formerly known as Eurostar and Thalys), MÁV-Start in Hungary, HŽPP in Croatia, LTG Link in Lithuania, PKP Intercity in Poland and GYSEV in Western Hungary and Eastern Austria have joined or will soon join the European Agreement on Journey Continuation (AJC), RailTech reports.
The Agreement on Journey Continuation is an agreement between now 21 European rail operators to allow passengers on international trains to catch the next available train at no extra cost if they miss their connection. Supporting or not supporting stranded train travellers is the Achilles‘ heel of popularising trans-European train travel.
The 21 operators involved are besides the six new additions BLS in Switzerland, České dráhy (ČD) in Czechia, CFL in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Deutsche Bahn (DB) in Germany, DSB in Denmark, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) in the Netherlands, ÖBB in Austria, Renfe in Spain, SJ in Sweden, SBB-CFF-FFS in Switzerland, SNCB / NMBS in Belgium, SNCF in France, Slovenske železnice (SŽ) in Slovenia, Trenitalia in Italy, ŽSSK in Slovakia.
When can a traveller invoke the AJC?
“If you miss your connection on an international journey because your previous train was delayed, you should go to the ticket office of your connection station (the station where you should have boarded on the international train you missed). The procedure is the same for all operators who have signed up to the agreement”, SNCB International says.
There are certain conditions.
- When making your initial booking, you should have allowed sufficient transfer time for your connections.
- Being able to catch the next train without having to buy a new ticket does not guarantee you a seat.
- Each of your tickets is a separate contract of carriage. If you are delayed during your journey, only the train that was actually delayed will be taken into account in the event of a claim for compensation.
What is sufficient transfer time? That is not set in stone. Each country, operator and even sometimes railway station will have its minimum connecting time.
When planning a journey, be smart and realistic. The longer the journey per train and the fewer connections you have the more margin you should plan. Do you really want to stress over overambitious planning?
More on night trains and transcontinental train travel
- ÖBB’s new Nightjet sleeper cars accommodate solo travellers with Mini Cabins.
- Trenitalia orders new Hitachi Frecciarossa trains suited for France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
- European Sleeper serving Dresden and Prague from 2024, targets Barcelona from 2025.
- Tri-Country Train between Maastricht, Liège and Aachen delayed until spring 2024.
- ÖBB’s Nightjet to connect Berlin to Brussels from December 2023.
- EUROCITY EC-8 | Basel to Cologne in SBB’s Panoramic Car.
- Trenitalia / FS confirms interest in connecting Spain to Brussels, Amsterdam and Berlin.
- Deutsche Bahn and Trenitalia want piece of Amsterdam – Brussels – Paris HST service via subsidiaries Arriva an Qbuzz.
- SNCF and NMBS / SNCB to link Paris to Brussels with ‘slow’ classic train in about 3 hours from December 2024.
- Sampling NS’ new train and future Benelux rolling stock ICNG.
- REVIEW | Trenitalia Frecciarossa 1000 Paris – Milan in Business Executive.
- RAIL TOUR OF EUROPE | How easy is touring Europe by train?.
- Midnight Trains secures new night train rolling stock, aims for December 2024 start.
- Eight train connections between the Netherlands and Belgium by 2030?.
- REVIEW | ÖBB Nightjet Amsterdam – Zurich night train.
- European Commission wants booking train tickets to be as easy as booking flights.
- Trenitalia aspires to run trains from Milan to Brussels and Amsterdam.
- GreenCityTrip launches new destinations for its chartered night trains: Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Malmö, Bologna, Firenze, Bolzano, Como, Salzburg, Linz.
- Nightjet Vienna/Innsbruck to Brussels, or how we got thrown off the train in Aachen.
- Why the expensive ÖBB Nightjet is really not that expensive.
- Reliving the era of the great railway journeys, travelling overnight on Nightjet.
- How we plan a big rail trip.
- Ticket Distribution: the failure of railways to sell themselves.
- To use night trains in Portugal and Spain or not?.
- Night trains in Europe.
- Low-cost, long-haul trains to conquer Europe?.
- Fly now before it’s taxed and consider using the train instead.
- Belgium to pay railway infrastructure fee and traction energy costs to lure night trains to Brussels.
- MIDNIGHT TRAINS | Unified Rail Europe? Coping with rail network challenges.
- MIDNIGHT TRAINS | Choosing rolling stock is more than following national technical rules.
- Midnight Trains abandon United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark and Portugal to aim at Nice, Milan, Rome, Venice, Barcelona and Madrid.
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