We’ve had the dogfight, now the railway wars are coming to Brussels

The EU’s fresh proposal to make the booking of complicated European rail journeys easier and more reliable, and in just one click, is a gift to travellers – but could be a major headache for the large companies that run the trains.

Make no mistake: a major political battle lies ahead. If politicians love the idea of simplifying the travel of EU citizens, the railway sector has already made clear it’s ready to wage war to defend its interests.

The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), which represents the industry in Brussels, has slammed the European Commission’s proposals as “unprecedented and unjustified regulatory interventionism”.

Panic stations

Their rage isn’t merely focused on the extra protections attached to the “one journey, one ticket” policy that the EU wants to force on the sector, even when the journey involves multiple trains with different operators.

The proposals unveiled on Wednesday also promise compensation or…