The 12th session of the UIC Sales Progress Group (SPG) meeting took place on 18 and 19 September 2024 at the Deutsche Bahn (DB) premises in Fulda, Germany, with 45 railway commercial ticket sales experts attending either in person or online.
After the SPG Chair Christian Walkling, DB, opened the meeting, Jan Vavra from the International Rail Transport Committee (CIT) presented the new EU Claim Form Regulation, which has been applicable since July 2024, as well as the new “Guidelines on the EU Claim Form” to help railways to implement this regulation. Vavra then also provided an update on the status of the Manual for International Rail Tickets (MIRT) modifications, CIT Glossary, and Agreement on Journey Continuation (AJC).
Next, East West Tariffs (EWT) Chair Anton Pylypchuk, Ukrainian Railways (UZ), gave a presentation on the updates for the Special Conditions of International Carriage (SCIC) EWT, including the alignment with the CIT Glossary and the ongoing transition of EWT ticketing towards e-tickets. Later, David Sarfatti, UIC Senior Advisor, presented the latest information in terms of the UIC International Railways Solutions (IRSs) and Technical Solutions, the Electronic Ticket Control Database (eTCD), the new Multiple East-West Railways Integrated Timetable Storage (MERITS) Real Time (Delays) database, the Database for Rail Tariffs and Fares (DRTF), and the Person with Reduced Mobility Assistance Booking Tool (PRM ABT).
The Integrated Reservation Ticketing (IRT) subgroup meeting chaired by Daniela Gualtieri, Trenitalia, followed, with the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB) presenting the new OUIGO classical train which will be operating between Brussels and Paris in collaboration with SNCF from December 2024 onwards.
During the Night Trains (NT) subgroup meeting, chaired by Zsuzsanna Selmeczi, MAV-Start, operators of night-trains provided updates on the timetable for 2025. The Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) will operate further Nightjet routes with new rolling-stock, with the Swedish national operator SJ taking over the night-train routes to Narvik, in Lapland again.
After lunch, the group discussed the proposals defined by the SPG Taskforce to support Actions 4 and 5 of the CER Ticketing Roadmap (such as defining roles in international ticket distribution, specifying mandatory trips in Open Sales and Distribution Model (OSDM) requests to facilitate the correct VAT accounting and measures for the EU Disability Card).
The afternoon continued with a very dynamic and rewarding workshop on aftersales conditions for OSDM Tickets and on setting flexibility levels (Non/Low, Mid or Full Flex). The possibility of “combined” versus “clustered” offers on complex multi-leg journeys was also compared and discussed.
On the second day, Non-Integrated Reservation Tickets (NRT) Coordinator Christiane Kraus, DB, presented the latest results of the CIT and SCIC-NRT glossary synchronisation and further SCIC-NRT updates. The participants then discussed the updates to IRS 10106, which describes the commercial distribution processes in the context of OSDM.
At the end of the morning, the participants thanked Walkling and Deutsche Bahn for organising the meeting. The SPG commercial rail experts look forward to meeting again in spring 2025.
