The European Commission has proposed a new law which it says will allow travellers from Ireland to get to the rest of Europe on a single ticket.
Under the proposals presented on Wednesday, operators will be able to offer tickets combining different operators including rail, coach and ferry.
In case of delays and missed connections, passengers would be rerouted and entitled to compensation.
Rail and sail tickets already allow passengers to take the ferry from Dublin and then take a train from Holyhead to London.
The EU law would regulate a Europe-wide system and allow more international connections throughout the European Union, plus Norway and Switzerland. The UK would not be part of the scheme because of Brexit.
The European Commission said the new rules would make “seamless travel across Europe a reality.”
For train operators on the continent, there would also be changes that would obligate the likes of SNCF and Deutsche Bahn to show timetables and fares from their rivals on their websites and apps.
The rail lobby group, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), criticised the proposals which it claimed will be onerous on rail companies.
CER “strongly cautions against the proposal’s mandatory distribution requirements and heavy burden of liability on railways. While profit-driven digital platforms get free reign to dominate ticket sales, railways will be left carrying the real cost and responsibility with inevitable repercussions on ticket prices.”
But consumer groups welcomed the proposals as having the potential to make life easier for passengers.
“This proposal could be just the ticket to help consumers fall in love with train travel again. Booking a rail ticket has become far too complex in recent years. New EU rules would go a long way to making that easier, by opening up ticket sales on more platforms,” said Agustín Reyna, Director General of the consumer rights group, BEUC.
“We are glad the European Commission listened to consumers and decided to act to make rail ticketing easier, including more rights to protect consumers if something goes wrong during their journey. This will help encourage more people to choose the train.”
European Commission for Transport, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, said it will make travel easier and lead to lower prices.
“Europeans will be able, with the click of a button, to plan, compare and purchase multimodal journeys across borders while benefiting from strong passenger rail rights, great transparency and better protection every step of the way,” he said.
The public transport lobby group, Transport & Environment, said the proposals would need to be tightened up if they are going to achieve those ambitions.
The proposals must be scrutinised and approved by ministers and the European Parliament before becoming law.
Commissioner Tzitzikostas said he hoped that the law could be finished and in place within two to three years.