A new Europe-wide organisation aims to influence European Union rail policy and fix long-standing international rail problems.

Independent rail campaigners have launched a new Europe-wide organisation aimed squarely at improving cross-border passenger rail: the European Rail Passengers Union (ERPU). Founded in December 2025, the initiative seeks to give rail passengers a direct, transnational voice at a time when the European Union is preparing new legislation on railway ticketing and passenger rights.

Filling a long-standing gap in passenger representation

The driving force behind ERPU is long-time railway commentator and campaigner Jon Worth, who has argued for more than a decade that international rail passengers lack effective representation. “The problem, essentially, is there is no organisation working uniquely on the cross-border rail problems,” Worth wrote at the launch. While national passenger groups exist, and umbrella bodies such as the European Passengers’ Federation (EPF) coordinate between them, there has until now been no organisation that individuals across Europe could join directly with a sole focus on international rail.

Worth points to repeated failures in cross-border services as evidence of this gap. He cites, among other examples, the 2021 closure of the Mons – Aulnoye-Aymeries link, when “no one other than me and a few friends did anything to protest”. Existing campaigns, such as Back on Track, focus primarily on night trains rather than the broader range of issues affecting international daytime travel.

A direct-membership, Europe-wide approach

ERPU has been founded by a small group of activists from different countries and is designed as a direct-membership organisation with no national chapters. Its stated aim is to tackle both entrenched structural problems — including ticketing barriers, inconsistent passenger rights and missing cross-border services — and urgent, ad hoc threats such as the proposed closure of international lines. The group also intends to raise funds to support lobbying work in Brussels.

The organisation is explicit that it wants to complement, not compete with, existing bodies. Worth has said ERPU would like to become a member of EPF and is happy to leave night train advocacy to Back on Track, positioning the new union as a focused voice for international passenger rail as a whole.

Passengers ahead of EU ticketing reforms

The timing of the launch is deliberate. The European Commission is expected to propose reforms to EU rail ticketing rules in early 2026, a process in which ERPU wants passengers to be heard. Worth describes the initiative as a way to “scale up” advocacy work that has until now depended largely on individual campaigners and informal networks.

On its website, ERPU frames its mission in explicitly European terms. “We believe that the voices of rail passengers are key to improving cross border rail in Europe,” the group states, arguing that policy makers and rail operators currently address international challenges “almost exclusively on the national level”. “The challenges to cross border rail can only be addressed with a transnational approach.”

Mobilising frustrated rail users across Europe

The founders believe the potential constituency is large. “Within my networks online there are thousands of people who are repeatedly annoyed that international rail in Europe does not work better,” Worth writes. “People who would take the train more, and fly and drive less, if the train option was easier, more reliable, cheaper.”

ERPU is currently in a soft-launch phase and is inviting supporters to sign up via its provisional website to receive updates or help build the organisation. A fuller public launch, along with more detailed policy positions, is expected later in 2026.

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